BHS 2400 - Research Methods in Social Sciences: Literature Review

Literature Reviews are critical evaluations of  relevant scholarship that has already been published. "By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published material, authors of literature reviews consider the progress of research toward clarifying a problem.  In a sense, literature reviews are tutorials, in that authors

• define and clarify the problem;
• summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of research;
• identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistences in the literature; and 
• suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.

The components of literature review can be arranged in various ways (e.g., by grouping research based on similarity in the concepts or theories of interest, methodological similarities among the studies reviewed, or the historical development of the field).  (Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 10)