SOC 200 - Sims: How to Write a Lit Review

How to write a literature review

Below are the steps you should follow when crafting a lit review for your class assignment.

1. Choose a topic. 
   1. It's preferable if you can select a topic that you find interesting, because this will make the work seem less like work. 
   2. It's also important to select a topic that many researchers have already explored. This way, you'll actually have "literature" to "review."
   3. Sometimes, doing a very general search and reading other literature reviews can reveal a topic or avenue of research to you. 
2. Review the current (new) and foundational (past) literature (aka research articles) of your topic. 
   1. It's important to gain an understanding of your topic's research history, in order to properly comprehend how and why the current (emerging) research exists.
   2. One trick is to look at the References (aka Bibliographies aka Works Cited pages) of any especially relevant articles, in order to expand your search for those same sources. This is because there is often overlap between works, and if you're paying attention, one source can point you to several others.
   3. One method is to start with the most recently-published research and then use their citations to identify older research, allowing you to piece together a timeline and work backwards. 
3. Organize your findings
   1. There are a few ways to organize the information you find:
      • Chronologically: discuss the literature in order of its writing/publication. This will demonstrate a change in trends over time, and/or detail a history of controversy in the field, and/or illustrate developments in the field.
      • Thematically: group your sources by subject or theme. This will show the variety of angels from which your topic has been studied. This method works well if you are trying to identify a sub-topic that has so far been overlooked by other researchers.
      • Methodologically: group your sources by methodology. For example, divide the literature into categories like qualitative versus quantitative, or by population or geographical region, etc. 
      • Theoretically: group your sources by theoretical lens. Your textbook should have a section(s) dedicated to the various theories in your field. If you're unsure, you should ask your professor.
4. Take notes on how the sources "talk" with each other.
   1. Are there disagreements on some issues, and consensus on others?
   2. How does this impact the path of research and discovery?
5. Are there any gaps in the research? 
   1. Many articles will have a Limitations section, or a Discussion section, wherein suggestions are provided for next steps to further the research.
   2. These are goldmines for helping you see a possible outlook of the situation. 
   3. Identifying any gaps in the literature that are of a particular interest to your research goals will help you justify why your own research should be performed. 
6. Write & Cite
   1. Be selective about which points from the source you use. The information should be the most important and the most relevant. 
   2. Use direct quotes sparingly, and don't rely too heavily on summaries and paraphrasing. You should be drawing conclusions about how the literature relates to your own analysis or the other literature. 
   3. Synthesize your sources. The goal is not to make a list of summaries, but to show how the sources relate to one another and to your own analysis. 
   4. At the end, make suggestions for future research. What subjects, populations, methodologies, or theoretical lenses warrant further exploration? What common flaws or biases did you identify that could be corrected in future studies? 
   5. ALWAYS CITE YOUR SOURCES. Ensure you are using the correct citation style by reviewing your assignment sheet or asking your professor. 
      1. Common citation styles for sociology classes include APA and ASA.

Understanding how a literature review is structured will help you as you craft your own. 

Below is information and example articles that you should review, in order to comprehend why they are written a certain way.

Below are some very good examples of Literature Reviews:

• Cyberbullying: How Physical Intimidation Influences the Way People are Bullied

• Use of Propofol and Emergence Agitation in Children

• Eternity and Immortality in Spinoza's 'Ethics'

As you read these, take note of the sections that comprise the main structure of each one:

1. Introduction 
2. Main body
   1. Summarize sources
   2. Synthesize sources
3. Conclusion

Below are some articles that provide very good examples of an "Introduction" section, which includes a "Review of the Literature."

• Sometimes, there is both an Introduction section, and a separate Review of the Literature section (oftentimes, it simply depends on the publication)

How to Read a Scholarly Article

 Read:

  Watch: