Writing A Dissertation Literature Section

A dissertation should have a literature review section to situate your study within the existing research. The literature review provides you with an opportunity to:

• Show your familiarity with the topic
• Develop your research’s theoretical framework and methodology
• Demonstrate how your project addresses a gap in the literature
• Persuade the reader you have valid and relevant arguments

Before writing a dissertation literature review, you should look for the relevant literature. Clearly defining your topic will enable you to find literature related to your research questions and problem. Make a list of keywords that relate to your research questions and key concepts you are interested in. Using the keywords, you can begin searching for sources. Here are some valuable databases to look for articles and journals:

• Google Scholar
• EBSCO
• University’s library catalogue

It is impossible to read everything written on the subject; therefore, you need to evaluate and select the most relevant sources. To determine if the sources are credible, ask yourself the following questions; the problem the author addressed, key concepts defined, fundamental theories and methods used, the researcher’s results and conclusions, and strengths and weaknesses of the study. After this, you will now be prepared to start writing your literature review chapter.

Go through dissertation literature review samples in your field to familiarize yourself with the existing themes and debates. This will help you to know how to frame and structure your review. Keep your review simple. Note that specific topics have thousands of perspectives from different researchers; hence the existing literature on the subject will be extensive.  You should simplify your work by clearly stating the focus of your research. Ensure you use sources that are as current as possible. Some fields like medicine have constantly evolving information, and three-year-old sources may be outdated. Your literature reviews section should show how perspectives in research have changed over the years.

Consider the organization of your literature review section. Since you will be reviewing many texts, you need to know how you will structure your theme, topic, and argument. The chapter consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion. Make the review’s introduction short, clear, and focused. It should state your research’s topic, the arguments to be made, and the rationale for these arguments. The body section should have a lengthy discussion of the academic sources you will review. The sources could be organized according to theme, methodology, or chronological order.

Additionally, you need to link your arguments with the existing literature. Mention views that agree or do not agree with your position to demonstrate your familiarity with academic research on your topic. The conclusion part of the literature review should summarize your findings from the sources, reiterate gaps in the literature, and demonstrate how your research will fill the gaps. You can also make suggestions for future study here to score some points.