How to Conduct a Literature Review for a Dissertation

A literature review is an essential part of your dissertation as it provides a comprehensive understanding of existing research on your topic. It demonstrates the gaps in current knowledge, establishes your research question’s significance, and provides a foundation for your own study. Here’s how to conduct an effective literature review for your dissertation:

1. Define Your Research Question and Scope

Narrow Focus: Start by clearly defining your research question or hypothesis. A focused question will guide the literature you need to review.
Scope of Review: Decide the scope of your review. Will you be reviewing research from a specific time period, geographical location, or theoretical framework? Are you focusing on empirical studies, theoretical work, or both?
Key Themes: Identify the key themes, theories, and concepts related to your research question. This will help you target the most relevant literature.

2. Conduct a Comprehensive Literature Search

Use Academic Databases: Search academic databases such as Google Scholar, JSTOR, PubMed, ProQuest, and other discipline-specific databases (e.g., ERIC for education, IEEE Xplore for engineering).
Search Keywords: Develop a list of keywords and phrases related to your research topic. Include synonyms or variations of the key terms to broaden your search.
Review Recent Literature: Ensure that your review includes both seminal works (key foundational studies) and the latest research to capture the full scope of the field.

3. Organize Your Findings

Categorize Studies: As you review the literature, organize your findings by theme, method, theory, or research question. This will make it easier to identify patterns or gaps in the research.
Create an Annotated Bibliography: Maintain a list of sources with summaries of key findings, methodologies, and relevance to your research. This will help you track and organize relevant literature.
Track Citations: Keep track of citations using reference management tools like Zotero, EndNote, or Mendeley to ensure you can easily refer to sources when writing your review.

4. Analyze and Synthesize the Literature

Identify Themes and Trends: Look for common findings, trends, and debates within the literature. What are the main theories and methodologies? Where do studies agree or disagree?
Identify Gaps: Consider the gaps in the literature. Is there a lack of research in certain areas? Are there questions that haven’t been fully addressed? This will help you justify the need for your research.
Critique the Studies: Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the studies you review. Consider their methodology, sample size, and the quality of their findings.

5. Write the Literature Review

Introduction: Introduce the topic, research question, and the purpose of the literature review. Briefly explain how the review will be organized.
Body: Organize the literature by themes, methodologies, or chronological order, depending on what works best for your topic. For each section, summarize the key findings, and critically analyze them.
Conclusion: Summarize the key insights from the literature, highlight any major gaps, and explain how your dissertation will contribute to filling those gaps or advancing the field.

6. Revise and Edit

Coherence and Flow: Ensure that your review flows logically from one section to the next. Make sure there is a clear link between the studies discussed and your research question.
Clarity: Be clear and concise in your writing. Avoid excessive jargon, and ensure that each study is adequately explained in terms of its relevance to your research.
Proofreading: Proofread your literature review for grammatical errors, clarity, and structure.

How to Conduct a Literature Review for a Dissertation

Published by oriaku