Literature Review Essentials
A Quick Guide to Reading and Using Scholarly Literature in a Dissertation
By Jim Lane, Ed.D.
What is a Literature Review?
The literature review is a section common to all scholarly papers, whether they be course essays, peer-reviewed articles, or dissertations. The literature review provides important scaffolding of background information that will be crucial as you collect and then interpret your data. The length of the review may range from a few paragraphs in an essay to several pages in an article to 30 or more pages in a dissertation. Whatever the publication, the purpose of the literature review remains the same, to describe the background, current status, and importance of the phenomenon under study.
According to Creswell and Creswell (2023), the review should share results of other important studies about the topic under discussion. Through the literature review, readers should understand the background of research on the topic and appreciate not only why this topic is important, but how this study adds to researchers’ understanding of the phenomenon.
Boote and Beille (2005, p. 3) call this process adding to our “collective understanding.” They explain, “A researcher needs to understand what has been done before, the strengths and weaknesses of existing studies, and what they might mean. A researcher cannot perform significant research without first understanding the literature in the field” (Boote & Beille, 2005, p. 3).
Finding Relevant Sources
The Doctoral Dissertation Template describes the literature review sections required in a University of Phoenix dissertation. The section first directs students to explain the process they used to identify relevant literature: First, search among the many academic databases from the University library. Examples may include PubMed, JSTOR, EBSCO Host, and Google Scholar. In addition, a helpful strategy is to use the Ask the Librarian function. Next, identify and use specific keywords relevant to the study’s research question(s). Finally, check the reference lists of key papers to find additional relevant literature.
Principles of Reading Scholarly Literature
To identify sources that you think are relevant, quickly skim the title and abstract. If things seems to be a study that will contribute to your research, continue to the introduction, headings, and conclusion to get a sense of the paper. In your survey of the piece, be sure to identify and understand the research questions, hypotheses (if present), and purpose of the study.
If you think the article will support your background, then critically read the literature review. To the extent possible, identify initial or primary researchers in the field. They may likely be important for your study. Remember that dissertations are not considered peer-reviewed sources and so should not be included as support in your literature review.
Strategies for Effective Reading
First, create an APA-formatted reference for the source. As you read, highlight important sections, arguments, and findings. Following that, add your observations to an annotated bibliography in which you include brief descriptions of each resource. Write a summary of the main points in your own words. Note the strengths, weaknesses, any biases or gaps. Be sure to include your own insights and potential applications to your study.
As you develop your list, you will see groups or categories emerge. These may include common problems, objectives, methodology and design, themes, and research questions. Other categories may include sources that support your premise or purpose, as well as those that do not. Begin to organize the sources as you think appropriate. This organization will be crucial when you construct the literature review. Stake calls such pieces of information “patches” (2010, p. 133) and suggests using a table to organize these patches of data.
Remember, however, that the literature review is not simply a list of each of these annotations. You must synthesize the information from these categories. That means putting the different patches together, comparing and contrasting perspectives, to form new, overarching ideas.
Historical Content
The first section of the literature review captures historical content, generally defined as over five years old. Here you are explaining the history of the phenomenon. Include germinal content and content that is considered historical based on its publication date. Include subheadings to delineate between various historical content topics. Remember that you are presenting the history of the phenomenon, showing how events have evolved.
Current Content
Generally, current content is less than five years old. This is especially important if you are researching events that change quickly, like artificial intelligence, government regulations, etc. These will likely require more recent sources. Be sure to describe all perspectives of each research topic including any controversial literature, rather than presenting only literature that supports your own perspective. Finally, include the same subsections here that you used in the historical content section unless there is no current literature for a specific topic.
Theoretical or Conceptual Framework Literature
This section should include subsections for each of the relevant theories you identified in Chapter 1 of your dissertation. Discuss supporting germinal and current literature that both describe and apply those theories. As you write, think about how these theories or frameworks are relevant to your study and how you might use them to interpret the data you will collect.
Conclusion
Conducting a robust literature review is not an easy task. Neither, however, need it be formidable or untenable. Approach the work as an adventure or as a sort of treasure hunt. Make a deal with yourself to devote the necessary time and attention to the work. You will be amply rewarded by the jewels you find along your journey. By following these steps, you can produce a robust literature review that will provide important scaffolding for your study and help ensure a successful dissertation.
Want to know more?
- Check out the full webinar on Writing a Literature Review that is uploaded to the Research and Methodology Group Teams site.
- Schedule an office hours appointment with a methodologist to discuss your literature review.
References and Other Sources
Boote, D. N., & Beile, P. (2005). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34(6), 3-15. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/scholars-before-researchers-on-centrality/docview/216906770/se-2
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. SAGE.
Creswell, J.W. & Creswell, J.D. (2023). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (SAGE).
Maxwell, J.A. (2013). Qualitative research design (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Merriam, S.B. & Tisdell, E.J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4rth ed.) Jossey-Bass.
Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M., & Saldana, J. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4rth ed.) SAGE.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Leech, N. L., & Collins, K. M. (2012). Qualitative analysis techniques for the review of the literature. The Qualitative Report, 17(28), 1-28.https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2012.1754
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Weinbaum, R. K. (2017). A framework for using qualitative comparative analysis for the review of the literature. The Qualitative Report, 22(2), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2175
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT
(June 1 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Stake, R.E. (2010). Qualitative research: Studying how things work. The Guilford Press.
Yin, R.K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods. SAGE.
University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies. (2024, April 1). College of Doctoral Studies Dissertation Guide chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.phoenix.edu/content/dam/edu/doctoral-studies/doc/cds-dissertation-guide-and-alignment-handbook.pdf
University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies. About CDS. https://www.phoenix.edu/doctoral-studies/about-cds.html Retrtieved July 15, 2024.
See Also
Create a Literature Review University of Phoenix Library
Writing a Literature Review SAGE Methods https://methods.sagepub.com/Search/Results
Jim Lane, Ed.D.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim Lane, Ed.D. served as a public school educator for 37 years as an English teacher, district language arts supervisor, and middle school assistant principal and principal. He holds a BA in English-Mass Communications Education, an MA in English, and an MEd and EdD in Educational Leadership. He has worked with the University of Phoenix since 2006 in various roles, including the associate research chair of the Center for Professional Responsibility in Education, research fellow in the Center for Education and Instructional Technology, reviewer for the Dissertation to Publication workshop, and member of the Research Methodology SIG. He is a faculty member in the ACCESS program, facilitating doctoral courses and serving dissertation committees as panel validator.