The point of the Literature Review is to give the reader an insight into the current and historic research discussions about your topic/question. What has been written on your area of study before and where was the research going? The Lecture Videos will show you how to do this. Here is an EXAMPLE
Use subsections again to demonstrate:
[2.1] Your methodology: What search engines, library content, websites, academic articles, newspaper archives etc. you accessed to undertake research and prepare for your own Discussion (Section 3). Identify and state what filters you used to narrow down the terms of your research (e.g. geographical areas, ages, last 10 years etc.) What did you decide to leave out and why? It is helpful when referring to search engines like JSTOR to keep a record of how many results came back from each search and how you reduced this by using filters – it shows you focused your research.
[2.2] Your findings: Once you have actually read the research, you should discuss – not simply repeat – WHAT the research shows. This is repeating: “Abercrombie and Fitch conclude that… Jack Wills argued that….”
So you mustn’t let it stop there. If you simply end up quoting what everyone else has said, you will score very poorly.
m
Comparing research for similarity and difference; pointing out your own observations about their work and how it affects your own question; considering aspects of their reliability and value (most academic articles will tell you what their limitations are so look for what they say!) – all of this will count towards critical analysis and synthesis in the higher levels. There are examples you can read on the Mark Scheme with links.
[2.3] Other sections in the Literature Review could address very old research vs new debates; case studies from one part of the world vs another. You could have subsections for one side of the debate and the counterpoint; or for different elements of the argument.
You MUST include references. The most efficient way to do this is by using footnotes1. Use these sections to show that you have researched thoroughly, exploring lots of different types of sources2. If your word count is getting out of hand you can discuss the reliability of the sources in your footnotes. Footnotes are not part of the word count. [See Lecture Screencast for footnoting advice.] For help with reliability, try this link.
[2.4] Some general or overall conclusions about the literature review.
The point of the Literature Review is to give the reader an insight into the current and historic research discussions about your topic/question. What has been written on your area of study before and where was the research going? The Lecture Videos will show you how to do this. Here is an EXAMPLE
Use subsections again to demonstrate:
[2.1] Your methodology: What search engines, library content, websites, academic articles, newspaper archives etc. you accessed to undertake research and prepare for your own Discussion (Section 3). Identify and state what filters you used to narrow down the terms of your research (e.g. geographical areas, ages, last 10 years etc.) What did you decide to leave out and why? It is helpful when referring to search engines like JSTOR to keep a record of how many results came back from each search and how you reduced this by using filters – it shows you focused your research.
[2.2] Your findings: Once you have actually read the research, you should discuss – not simply repeat – WHAT the research shows. This is repeating: “Abercrombie and Fitch conclude that… Jack Wills argued that….”
So you mustn’t let it stop there. If you simply end up quoting what everyone else has said, you will score very poorly.
m
Comparing research for similarity and difference; pointing out your own observations about their work and how it affects your own question; considering aspects of their reliability and value (most academic articles will tell you what their limitations are so look for what they say!) – all of this will count towards critical analysis and synthesis in the higher levels. There are examples you can read on the Mark Scheme with links.
[2.3] Other sections in the Literature Review could address very old research vs new debates; case studies from one part of the world vs another. You could have subsections for one side of the debate and the counterpoint; or for different elements of the argument.
You MUST include references. The most efficient way to do this is by using footnotes1. Use these sections to show that you have researched thoroughly, exploring lots of different types of sources2. If your word count is getting out of hand you can discuss the reliability of the sources in your footnotes. Footnotes are not part of the word count. [See Lecture Screencast for footnoting advice.] For help with reliability, try this link.
[2.4] Some general or overall conclusions about the literature review.
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