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The complex challenges of conducting a reading survey involve engaging in detailed information gathering and critical thinking exercises before initiating any research development. A dissertation is essentially a research essay that aims to address a question or issue. When planning your reading and research strategies, you should consider the origin of the problem, existing knowledge about it, and previous attempts to resolve it.
A literature review, an essential component of any academic research, demonstrates your understanding of the published discussions surrounding these questions. The term “literature” refers to all writings in the relevant field of study, including recognized or respected works on the subject. Academic reading, which is specialized and technical, is considered valuable for scholarly studies, including those seeking assistance from a reputable dissertation writing service. The goal of this reading is to gain insight into the theories, debates, and viewpoints in the field of study. It’s crucial to undertake this reading before beginning your research as it helps shape ideas, guiding the formulation of your research methodology.
A Literature Review Must
- Be related directly to the argument (known as the thesis) that you are proposing
- Integrate reading into a summary of what is known and what gaps there may be
- Identify issues and debates emerging from the literature
- Formulate questions that necessitate more research
Expressing a theoretical framework often features as a function of writing up the literature review. In a theoretical framework, you would include an outline of existing theories that are relevant to your research topic. You could also indicate research projects similar to yours that have been written up.
Beginning the Writing Process
The literature you access will include recently published books and journals available through university libraries and bookstores, as well as older material archived in university libraries and online. Reading this material is challenging, and the task of interpreting it and articulating your understanding can be daunting. Potential pitfalls you may encounter include
- Reading everything, rather than making critical judgments for selection
- Reading but not writing
- Not keeping full bibliographic records
It’s beneficial to create a preliminary annotated bibliography summarizing each book or journal article you read. Treat chapters in edited collections of essays individually – there’s no need to discuss the entire book. Take extensive notes, paraphrase the author’s argument, select passages to quote, and record the full reference including the author, date, publisher, and page number as you go along.
- Summarise – what for your study are the most relevant points made
- Critique – evaluate, and assess the strengths and weaknesses of content
- Interpret how it succeeds or fails to support your hypothesis
- Synthesise – reorganize the material and incorporate it into your argument
Organize the readings into sections that present themes or identify trends. Your writing should demonstrate your ability to think critically and conceptualize issues raised by previous research. Grouping items into sections can help you highlight comparisons and relationships.
How Should This Material Be Organised?
A Literature Review, akin to an essay or a chapter in a book, provides a logical discussion rather than summarizing different pieces of literature one after the other. It’s not advisable to start each paragraph with a researcher’s name or a book title; instead, it should be driven by a key concept like your dissertation research objective, the problem you are exploring, or your hypothesis. If you need help writing a paper, this perspective on constructing a Literature Review can be beneficial.
Your introductory paragraph should signal this guiding concept:
- What you are going to cover in the review
- The scope of your research
- How the review relates to your research project
Begin the introduction with a powerful, positive statement about your topic. Indicate how many themes your literature review will focus on and name these themes. Follow the introduction with the main body of the essay. Conclude with a paragraph that connects back to the introduction and anticipates the next chapter, likely the methodology.
Reviewing the Final Structure
Your literature chapter narrates your research topic in a way that allows your readers to fully comprehend the scope of your work. It also showcases to your tutor that you have conducted extensive reading within your field. This chapter informs the reader of your dissertation about the evolution of your thoughts, and the boundaries of your research, and provides necessary background information. This sets the stage for them to understand the subsequent sections of your work.
Summing Up
A dissertation is a research essay that seeks to respond to a doubt or problem.
The literature review is an important part of the dissertation and should integrate reading into what is known and what gaps there may be.
It is essential to formulate questions that necessitate more research and a theoretical framework in writing up the literature review.
It is helpful to compile an annotated bibliography summarising each book or journal article you read and to organize the reading into sections that present themes or identify trends.
The Literature Review should be defined by a guiding concept such as your dissertation research objective, the problem you are discussing, or your hypothesis.
The Literature Review looks like an essay, starting from the introduction and ending with a concluding paragraph that relates to the next chapter probably the methodology.
It is important that your literature chapter presents your research topic as a narrative and demonstrates to your tutor that you have read appropriately within your field.
