'The benefits of a literature review' - Essay Example

? Benefits of a Literature Review Introduction Most and scholars often find themselves in academicsituations that require the inclusion of literature reviews of various extents and scopes (Fink 2010, p. 23). A literature review entails texts noted down by an individual or groups of persons to reflect on the significant facts of recent knowledge to a particular topic mainly including methodological and theoretical contributions as well as the substantive findings (Marrelli 2005, p. 41). Literature reviews range from simple with less extensive scopes to the more complex reviews that cover a wider scope. In this regard, it is worthy to note that students normally need to write literature reviews as they begin their college and undergraduate studies while the professional scholars do it as a routine in their quest to write reports worthy of publishing (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 23). Since the literature so reviewed comes from secondary sources, they do not essentially an original experimental idea but emphasize on the relevance of the work being done or done earlier in support of the report (Oliver 2012, p. 43). This means that literature reviews form a pivotal part of a report, as they offer supportive theoretical and methodological ideas among which the agenda of the report is anchored (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 36). Under normal circumstances, literature reviews come before the proposal and the results section in order to locate the current study within the context of the topic (Jesson & Matheson 2010, p. 89). Perhaps it is prudent to highlight that the structure of a good literature review is elaborate as to contain the aim, body, hypothesis, method, conclusion, and the references (Oliver 2012, p. 46). To this effect, the purpose of a literature review is to update the reader of the report on the current studies and research findings relating to the topic thus improving on the relevance and significance of the chosen topic. The purpose of this essay is to discuss and critically evaluate the benefits of literature reviews in scholarly works and largely the students. As clarified above, a literature review mainly gives a discussion of information or ideas that have undergone publication and relate to a specific subject area (Jesson & Matheson 2010, p. 91). They do this concerning certain time limits, as they follow strict timelines that authenticate the relevance of the topic of discussion. Although a literature review looks as a simple summary of the idea, it is usually organized in such a way that it comprises of both the summary of the main ideas together with their synthetic analysis (Marrelli 2005, p. 41). This means that the literature review reflects on the main information and reorganizes it in such a way that it is palatable to the reader as far as the topic of discussion is concerned. In this sense, it may bring forth a new interpretation or maintain the previous ones depending on the circumstances of discussion or it may as well advance the intellectual capacity of the field through major debates (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 77). Additionally, a literature review may be a simple evaluation of all the sources related to the topic of discussion and in the process recommending the most relevant of them to the reader (Molloy 2005, p. 540). Indeed, a literature review exhibits a number of differences from an academic research paper in various respects. One of the most pronounced differences is that an academic research paper boldly develops an argument that it fully supports throughout the report with the relevant literature reviews contained within the text (Fink 2010, p. 32). This means that an academic report uses literature review as a supporting base for all the relevant facts as regards the topic of discussion. Conversely, a literature review plays a pivotal role as far as the contribution of the relevant facts that spearhead the topic of discussion is concerned (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 47). Therefore, a literature review is normally shorter than an academic report and is normally included in the final report as supporting information to the main argument in the report (Oliver 2012, p. 43). While an academic report intends to add new ideas through thorough research, a literature review mainly focuses on the summary and the synthesis part of previously researched academic papers by credible scholars without the addition of any new information to the content (Marrelli 2005, p. 42). Perhaps it is important at this point to look at the persons that usually write or require literature reviews and the circumstances under which they accomplish such tasks (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 74). Since literature reviews form a crucial part of any scholarly report, they are usually found within the sciences and social sciences as opposed to the humanities where they are uncommon (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 35). The reason for this is that the sciences and social sciences normally require both intensive and extensive research that included a well-researched literature review relevant to the main topic (Jesson & Matheson 2010, p. 90). Humanities on the other hand do not necessarily require the inclusion of literature review as most of their studies are nor normally scientific in nature (Marrelli 2005, p. 41). In addition, literature reviews are a common feature in the experimental and lab reports that require academic authentication and validation. In this regard, students especially at the college level, academic scholars, and research organizations are the main users of literature review, as their works have to undergo thorough scrutiny (Fink 2010, p. 36). Perhaps it is prudent at this point to look analyse the purpose of writing literature reviews (Bui 2009, p. 44). First, literature review normally acts as a guide to readers who intend to explore certain topics of their interests (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 33). This helps them have a quick gist of other works relating to the main idea that have been done in the recent past (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 73). Furthermore, literature review positions itself as a viable stepping-stone especially for those scholars who have limited time to conduct their research by giving them an overview as regards certain topic of their interests (Oliver 2012, p. 45). However, professionals use literature reviews as a tool that keeps them abreast with the current knowledge and information regarding their topics of study (Marrelli 2005, p. 43). Such professionals ought to scrutinize the relevance of their topic of studies especially in terms of currency of their ideas and the quality and quantity of recent research on that particular topic (Bui 2009, p. 48). When it comes to academic scholars, literature review plays a significant role in enhancing the credibility of such writers by providing an extended depth and breadth of their research (Fink 2010, p. 41). This makes their work more relevant and viable, as they have to include the views and recommendations from peer reviewed studies (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 60). Thus, a literature review is very relevant in all aspects of the academic environment. When academic researchers embark on doing their academic reports, they usually make certain arguments that need some sort of solid backing in order for the investigation by the researcher to have a strong background (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 38). Since a literature review mainly gives n a count of academic materials that had been previously published by researchers and experts, it provides the platform for the author to give reference to previous works of academic nature thereby highlighting some of the major strengths and weaknesses of such works (Fink 2010, p. 38). Therefore, one of the major purposes of a literature review is to provide the author with the background knowledge upon which to create and establish strong arguments that can stand thorough academic scrutiny (Jesson & Matheson 2010, p. 94). In this sense, a literature review, forming a crucial part of a report, appears at the beginning of the report normally between the introduction and the discussion sections (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 61). Perhaps another notable purpose of a literature review is to enhance the confidence of the author or researcher in their work as they discover the magnitude of interest by various scholars in their area of interest. As one conducts research, they want to ensure that in as much as their study might be exploring a green area some related studies would inspire them to take the research to new levels without any fear of being irrelevant (Oliver 2012, p. 51). In this regard, literature reviews bring to the attention of the authors or researchers new ideas, facts, and information that were previously unknown or had not taken keen interest in (Bui 2009, p. 44). In addition, literature reviews can act as a networking platform in that they provide opportunities for the researchers to interact and network with other individuals with interested within the same academic field (Marrelli 2005, p. 44). Although academic scholars and authors of academic reports can assess the strengths and weaknesses of various methodologies using a wide variety of ways, literature review provides a perfect analytical platform for such tasks (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 33). Consequently, the inclusion of literature review allows researchers to have a preview of the various methods that certain classes of authors have used in their respective works (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 75). In doing this, the researchers can be in a better position to scrutinize the methods and come up with a clear layout of the weaknesses and strengths of various methods (Bui 2009, p. 40). This information is very helpful to them because it enables them to refine their research papers in order to produce quality and viable reports (Marrelli 2005, p. 43). Furthermore, a literature review serves a crucial purpose of providing additional information regarding the sources that the authors were previously unaware of before the process (Oliver 2012, p. 44). This may in turn help them to expand on their sources through the preview of additional sources relevant to the main topic of discussion. Owing to the fact that the inclusion of sources in any academic report is a significant aspect, literature review eases the burden by helping the researcher accomplish exactly this (Fink 2010, p. 24). Additionally, literature review has the potential of providing easy access to the measuring techniques and tools that have proved to be highly effective especially when used by professional in certain fields (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 34). In simple terms, a researcher may gain full confidence in a particular measuring tool based on its efficacy as gauged by past users in the same of related fields of study. in conducting a literature review, a researcher may discover the potential threats that they are likely to encounter in their quest to complete their project (Bui 2009, p. 46). This way, that can be able to lay down strategic measures that would help them handle the possible problems appropriately (Oliver 2012, p. 49). When conducting research, such problems as unresponsive clients, complex data, and unreliable variables may limit the researcher’s capability of coming up with quality work. However, through earlier discovery and strategic positioning, a writer can easily manage such problems courtesy of literature review (Marrelli 2005, p. 42). Another purpose of literature review is to clarify or rather show conflicting viewpoints from various researchers about a particular idea (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 73). Both converging and divergent views are instrumental for the writer in order for them to make sound and informed arguments in their research papers. Largely, this will also enable students to develop larger dissertations and research projects that will develop them both intellectually and professionally (Molloy 2005, p. 541). Although many ways as to how to conduct literature review exists, it is proper to mention that there is no proper or improper method of carrying out a literature review as long as the writer finds their methods efficient and effective to their field of study (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 31). Any method of conducting a literature review may be justifiable to the extent that it assists the researcher understand certain findings relating their research to previous works done by various scholars (Aveyard 2007, p. 33). Owing to this, the search for resources requires some element of organization skills, as it may be time consuming especially for the novices (Molloy 2005, p. 538). In this respect, some of the materials that may be required when conducting a literature review include electronic databases, pen, and bibliographic software that are very instrumental in categorizing the sources (Dawidowicz 2010, p. 73). Once the researcher has gathered all the necessary sources for the literature review, they ought to write the literature review not only with clarity but also by taking into account the required clarity. This means that a literature review should only give a summary and a synthetic analysis that is relevant to the topic of discussion (Marrelli 2005, p. 41). While the process of conducting quality literature review may at times be cumbersome, it is worthy to note that the process has a number of benefits to both the writer and the readers of the concerned research paper (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 33). Certainly, literature review enables the writer to acquaint themselves with the methodology of the report together with the contents and the conclusions as has been done by other workers in a particular area of study. This specifically helps them to articulate their supposed needs in such a way that they are in concurrence with the field of study (Fink 2010, p. 26). This process is achieved through the absolute comprehension of the wide context of the specific problems and issues in order to avoid the duplication of the same (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 64). Another benefit of literature review is that it introduces the researcher to various benefits and shortcomings of various methodologies and techniques to be used in the report or concerning a particular idea (Bui 2009, p. 44). This is especially so as the writers of the reports have an in-depth understanding of the correlation between the results, methodology, and the methods (Molloy 2005, p. 544). This is also especially helpful to the researchers when it comes to the choice of the most appropriate data collection and analysis tools for the field of study. Since every field of study has specific applicable data handling techniques it is proper for the researcher to consult previous literature in order to come up with the best possible techniques (Oliver 2012, p. 53). Lastly but equally important, a writer of a report gets to familiarise themselves with responses that have the possibility of becoming successful with regards to the area of study that aims to solve a given problem (Whittaker & Williamson 2011, p. 67). This way, the researchers can easily assess the effectiveness of the potential Reponses thereby ensuring credibility of the content of their reports (Bui 2009, p. 44). The main purpose of this idea though is to help the writer to learn the experiences of past but recent researchers as relevant to their study as to understand the advantages and disadvantages of specific ideas and techniques (Rowley & Slack 2004, p. 31). In conclusion, it is definite that conducting a literature review to any piece of academic work is very beneficial in as much as it may have certain shortcomings. Ordinarily, a literature review is found within the main report but at certain incidences, it may stand on its own as a short paper. All the same, the purposes of conducting a literature review remain virtually the same irrespective of the subject area being covered. In this sense, a complete literature review normally has the aim, body, hypothesis, method, conclusions, and references as the main component. To begin with, literature reviews normally provide the student with an in-depth understanding about certain issues and ideas within their fields of study thereby evaluating different levels of cognitive abilities. Additionally, the process of conducting literature reviews has the particular benefit of providing students and more so researchers with the conceptual framework required in project planning. This way, the researchers will have a perfect idea of what scholars have already researched on thereby broadening their scope in the field of study besides refining their analytical skills. However, literature reviews have certain limitations such as the cumbersome nature of the whole process including the need for good supervision and the inaccessibility to certain information especially by the students. Overall, the literature review strengthens the whole research project in virtually all aspects and therefore researchers ought not to overlook this feature. Reference List Aveyard, H 2007 Doing a literature review in health and social care: a practical guide, Maidenhead, Open University Press. Bui, Y N 2009 How to write a master's thesis, Thousand Oaks, Calif, Sage. Dawidowicz, P 2010 Literature reviews made easy: a quick guide to success, Charlotte, NC, Information Age Pub. Fink, A 2010 Conducting research literature reviews: from the Internet to paper, Los Angeles, Sage. Jesson, J, & Matheson, L 2010 An introduction to traditional & systematic literature reviews, London, Sage. Marrelli, A F, 2005 ‘The Performance Technologist's Toolbox: Literature Reviews’, Performance Improvement, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 40-44. Molloy, J C, 2005 ‘Development networks: literature review and future research’, Career Development International, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 536-547. Oliver, P 2012 Succeeding with your literature review: a handbook for students, Maidenhead, Open University Press. Rowley, J & Slack, F 2004 ‘Conducting a Literature Review’, Management Research News, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 31-39. Whittaker, A, & Williamson, G R 2011 Succeeding in research project plans and literature reviews for nursing students, Exeter [U.K.], Learning Matters. Read More