Literature Reviews

So . . .you’ve reached the point where you need to compose a literature review.

The purpose of a literature review is two-fold: to familiarize yourself with the available secondary materials related to your choice of topic and to place your work in context with the already vast research into your topic. This purpose directly impacts the content of your literature review; specifically, your literature review will be made up of summary and analysis.

Many people ask: How much of my literature review consists of summary versus analysis? ANSWER: There is no set answer to this question. What I can tell you is that a common error is to treat the literature review like an annotated bibliography. By this I mean, many people will write a summary paragraph for every secondary source that they find and then paste all of these summaries together. Avoid this error!

When it comes to sitting down and writing your literature review, many resources recommend a similar strategy:

1. Read and understand a piece of research


2. Compose a summary of the research

** This summary is strictly for yourself – it is not being put into the literature review . . . yet


3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for every secondary source that you have found 

**Only after you have read all of the research do you begin to analyze various sources and begin to identify a strategy for organizing your content in your literature review – such as chronological, thematic, or methodological

**Only after you have read all of the research do you begin to analyze various sources and begin to identify a strategy for organizing your content in your literature review – such as chronological, thematic, or methodological 

**Only after you have read all of the research do you begin to analyze various sources and begin to identify a strategy for organizing your content in your literature review – such as chronological, thematic, or methodological 

**Only after you have read all of the research do you begin to analyze various sources and begin to identify a strategy for organizing your content in your literature review – such as chronological, thematic, or methodological 

**Only after you have read all of the research do you begin to analyze various sources and begin to identify a strategy for organizing your content in your literature review – such as chronological, thematic, or methodological

4. Organize your summaries

** Depending on your organization strategy, you may need only bits and pieces of some notes, or you may need entire summary paragraphs that you’ve composed.

** When you organize this information, do not put them into paragraph form yet.


5. Analyze and evaluate your research

** According to Walden University, this step should include:

·      Discussing strengths and weaknesses of sources or the field

·      Compare and contrast methods, approaches, and findings of authors

·      Evaluate and interpret what is known in your field and what, if anything, is missing

·      Provide rationale for why each is a part of your literature review and what role each plays within your field.




Remember: a crucial feature of the literature review involves contextualizing your research, or positioning your study within your field.


Another common question: how many secondary sources do I need to include in my literature review? ANSWER: It depends. Are you writing a literature review as part of your proposal/prospectus? Are you writing a literature review as part of your thesis or dissertation? Are you writing a stand-alone literature review?


If you are writing either a stand-alone literature review or a literature review for your proposal/prospectus, then you should prioritize the most recent sources related to your topic – in order to emphasize your familiarity with recent data, arguments, and trends – and sources that are considered the definitive work done on the topic – a.k.a. the sources that all other sources cite on their references page.


If you are writing a literature review for your thesis or dissertation, then there is no limit on the number of sources that you might include in a literature review.

Don’t forget that your literature review chapter will require an introduction and conclusion.

Since I am a graduate student in the English department, I would be remiss if I didn’t add the last step– proofread! If you would like help with this, I recommend visiting the Writing Center (click here for hours) or coming to the Thesis and Dissertation office during office hours (Monday through Thursday 10am until 2pm).  

There are numerous models online (too many to include here) that can be found through a simple search if you wish to see an example of a literature review in your field.

Feel free to post a comment if you have any additional questions or concerns about writing a literature review, or feel free to consult the resources listed below.


Resources-

-       Writing a literature review according to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (click here)

-       How to write a literature review according to the University of Wisconsin - Madison (click here)

-       Step-by-step explanation of how to write a literature review according to North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (click here)


-       Literature reviews according to Walden University (click here)

Writing the Proposal / Prospectus

It’s time to write your thesis/dissertation proposal … er, uh, prospectus … um, wait, what is it that we graduate students write before we actually write a thesis or dissertation? And how do we write this thing?

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. I know that I had many questions when writing my proposal, and I recall many of my colleagues feeling the same. Let’s start by clarifying, somewhat, the difference in the terms “proposal” and “prospectus.”

These terms are used interchangeably by many universities, and whatever you call it, this piece of writing is basically an outline of your proposed study as you see it now. Some universities do distinguish between the terms “proposal” and “prospectus”; see Walden University (click here) where a prospectus is actually the plan for a proposal! But a proposal, in general, is a written piece that seeks to convince its audience to do something, buy something, or accept a solution. If you think about it, a thesis or dissertation proposal does just that for your committee: you are writing to show your committee members the plan for your ultimate project, and you hope they accept your design. No one expects that you will know exactly what your thesis or dissertation will ultimately look like at this stage, however.

So let’s move on to the actual the document. As Alice N. T. Reid, on her website, says, a (general) proposal “offers a plan to fill a need.” The thesis/dissertation proposal fits that description exactly, as it should suggest that your project will fill in a gap, however small, in the existing scholarship on the same topic. But, again, what are the requirements for this proposal?

Here is where variety comes in; there are as many kinds of proposals as there are theses and dissertations. For this reason, you should check with your advisor to see what she or he suggests. All proposals contain one or more research question/s and how those will be addressed, and all have a bibliography. All give the context of what is currently being discussed regarding the topic, but, other than that, proposals vary, depending on the study and the discipline the work is situated in.

I found that typically, proposals are about 20 pages, but I’ve heard of many being much shorter or longer. Carolyn Law, NIU’s thesis advisor, suggests not to worry about page length; instead, she says to “outline your proposal based on necessary sections.”  She advises you to think of the proposal as a contract or action plan to keep you focused throughout your research project.

After you talk to your department, you could search other university websites for department-specific advice as well; for instance, Brown University’s History Department gives exacting details as to how to write a proposal in history at Brown. Don’t forget, too: books! Several resources focus on helping writers of theses and dissertations. One example, with a 72-page chapter on writing proposals, is: Destination Dissertation: A Traveler’s Guide to a Done Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters.

Introducing Your Bloggers

Hi! My name is Clare Foland, and I am a PhD candidate in English at NIU. I am writing my dissertation on the role of cars in Twentieth Century American Fiction, and I am illogically happy about my ideas, especially considering my time constraints. I’m sure all of you reading this are busy, too.

Part of what keeps me busy is working as a GA in the Thesis and Dissertation office of the Graduate School along with Mike (see below). We are really excited to put new services in place for all graduate students at NIU and to share ideas that will help in the writing of our ETDs. (Check out our website if you aren’t familiar with the acronym “ETD”! http://www.grad.niu.edu/grad/thesis/index.shtml.) 

I’ve learned a great deal about ETDs while working in this position, and this information helps to keep me focused on writing my dissertation; our goal in this office is to share good ideas in a community of support.

Outside of NIU, I teach composition courses at COD and a grammar course at AU. I am married with two kids, and, if I have any spare time, I ride my prized possession, a Giant bike (literally, the brand is called “Giant”).

I could go on, but I have writing to do, so see you next post!   

Hello! My name is Mike and I am one of the graduate assistants in the Thesis and Dissertation Office.

I am a PhD candidate in the English department and I am writing my dissertation on the modernist American writer John Dos Passos. One of the reasons why I chose to write about Dos Passos is because in spite of the fact that he was a leading literary voice during the 1920s and 1930s, he has been forgotten by critics and academics. I am hoping to offer a fresh perspective of Dos Passos’s fiction in order to rekindle interest in his work. The other reason I am enjoying writing about Dos Passos is that he and I share a similar background – we may have been born in the United States, but we both grew up in Belgium.

I have been working on my dissertation for a while now and I am happy to report that I am halfway through the work, though at times it does feel as though the end is nowhere in sight. 

In addition to my responsibilities in the Thesis and Dissertation Office, I am an adjunct professor – I teach First Year Composition I and II – and I am single parent. Other than all of that, there’s not much else to tell you except . . . I must confess that I am addicted to coffee, PBS, and British television programming.