1. A critical review of the literature is necessary to help you to develop a thorough understanding of, and insight into, previous work that relates to your research question(s) and objectives. Your review will set your research in context by critically discussing and referencing work that has already been undertaken, drawing out key point and presenting them in a logically argued way, and highlighting those areas where you will provided fresh insight. It will lead the reader into subsequent sections of you project report.
2. There is no one correct structure for a critical review, although it is helpful to think of it as a funnel in which you start at a more general level prior to narrowing down to your specific research question(s) and objectives.
3. Literature sources can be divided into three categories: Primary, secondary and Tertiary. In reality, these categories often overlap. Your use of these resources will depend on your research question(s) and objectives. Some may use only tertiary and secondary literature. For other, you may need to locate primary literature as well.
4. When planning your literature search you need to:
- have a clearly defined research question(s) and research objectives;
- define the parameter of your search;
- generate search terms and phrase;
- discuss your idea as widely as possible.
5. Technique to help you in this include brainstorming and relevance trees.
6. Your literature search is likely to be undertaken using a variety of approaches of tandem. These will include;
- searching using tertiary sources and the internet;
- following up references in articles you have already read;
- scanning and browsing secondary literature in your library.
7. Don't forget to make precise notes of the research process you have used and their results.
8. Once obtained, the literature must be evaluated for its relevance to your research question(S) and objectives using clearly defined criteria. This must include a consideration of each item's currency. Each item must be read and noted. Bibliographic details, a brief description of the content and appropriate supplementary information should also be recorded.
9. For literature reviews focusing on policy or practice question in particular, may may decided to a a use systematic Review.
10. Care should be taken when writing your literature review not to plagiarise the work of others.
Adapt from: Pearson (Research method for business student )
