Writing a literature review怎样写文献综述英文版

1、Writing a literature review,Marian May Faculty of Business,Purposes of a literature review,To show that you have read widely from (all?) the research in the field To acknowledge the work of others To justify your choice of research topic To identify a gap in the research so that you do not duplicate

2、 the work of others To summarise, organise, compare, contrast and evaluate (i.e. REVIEW) the ideas of others so that you have an accurate grasp of what research has been done To support your argument,Examples of literature reviews,Introduction of Clatworthy and Jones (2003) Literature review section

3、 in Clatworthy and Jones (2003),1. Clatworthy and Jones Introduction,Note the first sentence: “Accounting narratives represent an increasingly important financial reporting medium.” Note the focus on literature/research/studies Note the way the literature is used to support their assertions Note the

4、 statement of aim and purpose Note the way they define focus on “impression management” Note the defining of scope Note the outline of the paper,Focus on the literature (1),Many more sentences contain words that relate to research, studies, scholarly writing: For example on p.171: “Empirical researc

5、h has demonstrated ” “The importance is well documented” “Studies in Australia and New Zealand all show that ” “Studies of the use of information also show that ” “Moreover, in an empirical study , Abrahamson and Amir (1996) determine ” Authors used as examples: “(e.g., Lee and Tweedie, 1981)”,Focus

6、 on the literature (2),Note the following strong literature focus (weak author focus): “Empirical research in the US has demonstrated that both the inclusion and the content of presidents letters significantly affect the judgments of individuals in equity investment decisions (Kaplan et al. 1990).”

7、(NB. Here, the sentence begins with the research. The authors are not in the sentence.), compared with focus on author(s),Note the following strong author focus: “Kaplan et al.(1990) have demonstrated that both the inclusion and the content of presidents letters significantly affect the judgments of

8、 individuals in equity investment decisions.” (NB. Here, the authors begin the sentence.),and no specific focus on author or literature,“Both the inclusion and the content of presidents letters significantly affect the judgments of individuals in equity investment decisions (Kaplan et al. 1990).” (N

9、B. Here, the focus is on the content. The writer makes a statement about the topic, supported by a citation.),2. C second, ; third, ; and fourth, ),A map for the reader,Tell the reader how you will structure the review: e.g. have you used a historical approach? Or a theoretical approach? Give “signp

10、osts” throughout the review to help the reader follow your progress For a longer review it is useful to use sub-headings Mark your conclusion clearly e.g. To conclude, or To summarise, ,The main part of the review,Decide on a structure Identify themes and issues Synthesise the body of literature by

11、summarising the main developments, arguments, debates, changes, influences, key figures Compare and contrast the studies with each other Interpret the studies for the reader,Your introduction,Identify your topic Tell the reader why this topic is worth reviewing (i.e. Why is the literature on this to

12、pic important or useful? Is there debate on this issue, for example?) Outline your objective in writing the literature review Outline the scope of your review (e.g. This review covers literature from the following sources: . or There are four sections in this review: first, ; second, ; third, ; and

13、fourth, ),Interpreting studies for the reader:,e.g. “These attributions are most prevalent when companies do worse than expected, although Bettman and Weitz (1983) do not partition their sample by company performance.” (p.173) Use verbs that interpret the literature: e.g. “X shows that ”, “Y argues

14、that ”, “Z asserts that ”, “T proposes that ”, etc.,Your conclusion,Use a “signpost” e.g. “In sum, therefore the prior literature demonstrates” (Clatworthy & Jones 2003:174) Focus on the literature: Summarise briefly the debates, developments, arguments, theories, themes Summarise your assessment of the literature e.g. tell the r