Existing dissertation literature is one of the best ways to source your dissertation. You can cite this literature under chapter two (Literature Review). A literature review is the screening of the existing dissertation literature to support/oppose an argument. Hence, a literature review is a platform that provides a chance to present the current knowledge, relevant theories, research methods, and literature gaps altogether. It aims to bind the scattered pieces of information in one digital booklet.
The use of existing dissertation literature in your dissertation is not as straightforward. It is something more than stating others' facts as it is. There are a set of rules and techniques necessary for all literature seekers. Let's see a few of them;
· Literature screening
· Source evaluation
· Identification of the theme of study
· Writing rough/final draft
· Cross-checking
In an undergraduate dissertation, students take literature review easy. They right away state what others proved without evaluating the facts. The most probable trick; they copy others' abstracts and directly rephrase them. This act is another subject of plagiarism (word by word paraphrasing). Following the above five steps, we can use the existing dissertation literature effectively.
Before searching relevant sources of existing dissertation literature, you will need a clear topic. A clear topic will help to define your keywords. The keyword identification will narrow down your search results. Further, you can also search for scenario-specific keywords to strengthen your facts. Besides, another important way to search the literature is the variables in research questions. The possible relations between the variables will help you to search accordingly.
Further, if you are working on a literature review as a solo assignment. Then, you have to develop a research question first. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to organise tons of facts in one frame.
You can create a source library to help you answer the research questions. While considering the facts in the research, you don't need to read a paper toughly. The existing dissertation literature will be useful if it can answer your research questions. Still, for evaluating the sources, you can find the following things:
· Problem statement if another author
· Key concepts and defining tools
· Relevant theories, models
· Flexibility on facts to define your problem too
· Conclusion of other's studies
· Relevancy of the facts with your topic sentence and problem statement.
· Strength and weaknesses of the existing dissertation literature
Before evaluating all these facts, you should also look for the credibility of the sources.
Good source evaluation will lead you towards selecting existing dissertation literature for your study. After this selection-next to do is the arrangement of these facts in your dissertation. To organise, you need to build a strong relationship between different facts. It's good to make notes addressing the following things;
· Count total theories, models, or themes in the existing dissertation literature in your notes. Try to organise these sources according to the time frame. For this, you need to see the publishing date.
· Central ideas recruitment is another approach to organise the facts.
· Note controversial areas of debate and arguments. It will also help in the identification of the literature gap.
Following these notes, you can develop a detailed outline for your dissertation. The detailed outline will ensure a well-structured inclusion of existing dissertation literature.
Steps 1-3 will set the writing platform for you. Now, you will not face content-related problems during drafting. The next thing you should keep in mind during writing is to include a critical evaluation of the facts. Critical evaluation is the basic necessity of life. So, don't miss it.
Like all other academic writing tasks, here too proofreading is essential. In proofreading, other than spelling and grammatical errors, crossed-fact evaluation is also important. Following each step, using the existing dissertation literature in your dissertation will become easier. Hence, students should follow them one by them without skipping any step to draft a comprehensive and critical literature review chapter of their dissertation.
Exams are known as the best assessment tool, and with the help of this tool, we can measure the knowledge, skills and physical fitness of the mind of the test-takers.
Exams are known as the best assessment tool, and with the help of this tool, we can measure the knowledge, skills and physical fitness of the mind of the test-takers.