Review of Literature

An essential step in any research project is the literature review. The function of the literature review is to provide background information on the research question, and to identify what others have said and/or discovered about the question. It may well be that in the course of carrying out the literature review, you come across a study which answers the very question you are proposing to investigate. The literature review, if carried out systematically, will acquaint you with previous work in the field, and it should also alert you to problems and potential pitfalls in the chosen area.

A good way to begin a literature review is to prepare an annotated bibli­ography. As the name suggests, an annotated bibliography contains a list of relevant studies relating to the research question or issue. These may range from brief research reports to books. Each entry contains a summary or abstract of the particular work. The following sample extract from a com­mercially published literature review provides some idea of the length and detail of the annotations.

Kennedy, C. 1987. Innovation for a change: teacher development and innovation. ELT Journal, 41, 3: 163-170.

Author describes a university level ESP project in Tunisia where the aim was to further teacher education. Teachers were involved with materials production. They were required to produce a materials blueprint taking into consideration questions of approach and design, which make them aware of gaps in their theoretical knowledge about language and learning. Kennedy believes that this approach, i.e. creating a situation which generates a demand for theory arising from a questioning of practice, is the best way to influence deep seated value and belief systems and thus to have a lasting effect on teacher behaviour.

(Dallas 1990)

Abstracts such as these can be either kept on index cards or entered into a word processor or computer database to be drawn upon in the creation of a literature review. A literature review differs from an annotated bibliography in that the researcher extracts and synthesises the main points, issues, find­ings, and research methods which emerge from a critical review of the read­ings. Merriam (1988) suggests that, in carrying out a literature review, it is a good idea to differentiate between data-based research and non-data-based writings. As the name suggests, data-based literature is based on empirical[3] information collected by the researcher. Non-data-based writings, on the other hand, 'reflect the writer's experiences or opinions and can range from the highly theoretical to popular testimonials' (Merriam 1988: 61).

Wiersma (1986:376-377) provides the following practical advice for carrying out a literature review:

• 1. Select studies that relate most directly to the problem at hand.

  2. Tie together the results of the studies so that their relevance is clear. Do not simply provide a compendium of seemingly unrelated references in paragraph form.

  3. When conflicting findings are reported across studies - and this is quite common in educational research - carefully examine the variations in the findings and possible explanations for them. Ignoring variation and simply averaging effects loses information and fails to recognize the complexity of the problem.

  4. Make the case that the research area reviewed is incomplete or requires extension. This establishes the need for research in this area. (Note: This does not make the case that the proposed research is going to meet the need or is of significance.)

  5. Although information from the literature must be properly referenced, do not make the review a series of quotations.

  6. The review should be organized according to the major points relevant to the problem. Do not force the review into a chronological organization, for example, which may confuse the relevance and continuity among the studies reviewed.

  7. Give the reader some indication of the relative importance of results from studies reviewed. Some results have more bearing on the problem than others, and this should be indicated.

  8. Provide a closure for the section. Do not terminate with comments from the final study reviewed. Provide a summary and pull together the most important points.

Numerous resources exist to facilitate the literature review process, and most of these can be found in university and college libraries. If one has only a vague idea of the general area one wishes to investigate, it is a good idea to consult an educational encyclopedia to obtain a general overview of the area in question. The library subject catalogue can also provide information on relevant books and periodicals. In order to obtain references to journals it is best to start with a periodical index such as ERIC (Educational Resources Information Centre) or the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. The ERIC Thesaurus provides descriptors of concepts. Subject indexes such as the Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) and Resources in Education (RIE) will give you lists of resources. Finally, there are the specialised abstract­ing journals such as Language Teaching, which provide summaries of recently published journal articles.