Quizlet Which of the Following Is a Common Mistake That Weakens a Literature Review

Crafting a high-quality literature review is disquisitional to earning marks and developing a strong dissertation, thesis or research project. But, it'south no uncomplicated task. Here at Grad Coach, we've reviewed thousands of literature reviews and seen a recurring gear up of mistakes and issues that elevate students downwardly.

In this post, nosotros'll unpack 7 common literature review mistakes, and so that you can avoid these pitfalls and submit a literature review that impresses.

Overview: vii Literature Review Killers

1. Over-reliance on depression-quality sources
2. A lack of landmark/seminal literature
3. A lack of current literature
4. Description instead of integration and synthesis
5. Irrelevant or unfocused content
6. Poor chapter structure and layout
7. Plagiarism and poor referencing

Fault #1: Over-reliance on low-quality sources

I of the most mutual issues we come across in literature reviews is an over-reliance on depression-quality sources. This includes a broad collection of non-academic sources like blog posts, opinion pieces, publications by advocacy groups and daily news articles.

Of form, simply because a piece of content takes the form of a blog mail service doesn't automatically hateful it is low-quality. However, it's (more often than not) unlikely to be equally academically sound (i.eastward., well-researched, objective and scientific) equally a journal article, so you need to be a lot more sceptical when because this content and make sure that it has a strong, well-reasoned foundation. As a dominion of thumb, your literature review shouldn't rely heavily on these types of content – they should exist used sparingly.

Ideally, your literature review should be built on a strong base of periodical manufactures, ideally from well-recognised, peer-reviewed journals with a high H alphabetize. You can also describe on books written by well-established subject matter experts. When considering books, try to focus on those that are published by academic publishers, for instance, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Routledge. You can as well draw on government websites, provided they take a potent reputation for objectivity and data quality. As with any other source, be wary of any authorities website that seems to be pushing an agenda.

Equally I mentioned, this doesn't mean that your literature review can't include the occasional weblog mail or news article. These types of content have their place, especially when setting the context for your written report. For instance, you may want to cite a drove of newspaper articles to demonstrate the emergence of a recent trend. All the same, your core arguments and theoretical foundations shouldn't rely on these. Build your foundation on credible academic literature to ensure that your study stands on the proverbial shoulders of giants.

Error #two: A lack of landmark/seminal literature

Another event nosotros see in weaker literature reviews is an absence of landmark literature for the research topic. Landmark literature (sometimes also referred to equally seminal or pivotal work) refers to the articles that initially presented an idea of great importance or influence within a detail discipline. In other words, the manufactures that put the specific area of research "on the map", and so to speak.

The reason for the absenteeism of landmark literature in poor literature reviews is well-nigh commonly that either the educatee isn't aware of the literature (because they haven't sufficiently immersed themselves in the existing research), or that they feel that they should only nowadays the well-nigh up to date studies. Whatever the cause, it's a problem, equally a good literature review should e'er acknowledge the seminal writing in the field.

But, how do yous find landmark literature?

Well, you can unremarkably spot these by searching for the topic in Google Scholar and identifying the scattering of articles with loftier citation counts. They'll also be the studies nearly commonly cited in textbooks and, of grade, Wikipedia (merely delight don't use Wikipedia as a source!).

And so, when you're piecing your literature review together, recall to pay homage to the classics, even if only briefly. Seminal works are the theoretical foundation of a strong literature review.

Mistake #three: A lack of current literature

As I mentioned, it'due south incredibly important to acknowledge the landmark studies and enquiry in your literature review. Notwithstanding, a strong literature review should likewise contain the electric current literature. It should, ideally, compare and contrast the "classics" with the more up to appointment research, and briefly comment on the evolution.

Of course, you don't want to burn precious discussion count providing an in-depth history lesson regarding the evolution of the topic (unless that'due south one of your research aims, of form), but you should at least acknowledge whatsoever key differences betwixt the onetime and the new.

But, how practice you discover current literature?

To discover current literature in your research expanse, you lot tin once again use Google Scholar by only selecting the "Since…" link on the left-mitt side. Depending on your area of written report, recent may mean the last year or two, or a fair deal longer.

So, equally yous develop your catalogue of literature, remember to incorporate both the classics and the more up to date inquiry. By doing this, you'll achieve a comprehensive literature base that is both well-rooted in tried and tested theory and current.

Mistake #4: Clarification instead of integration and synthesis

This 1 is a big i. And, unfortunately, it'southward a very common 1. In fact, it's probably the most common issue we encounter in literature reviews.

All also oft, students recollect that a literature review is but a summary of what each researcher has said. A lengthy, detailed "he said, she said". This is incorrect. A good literature review needs to get beyond just describing all the relevant literature. It needs to integrate the existing research to show how information technology all fits together.

A skillful literature review should also highlight what areas don't fit together, and which pieces are missing. In other words, what exercise researchers disagree on and why might that be. It'south seldom the instance that anybody agrees on everything because the "truth" is typically very nuanced and intricate in reality. A strong literature review is a balanced 1, with a mix of unlike perspectives and findings that give the reader a clear view of the electric current state of noesis.

A good analogy is that of a jigsaw puzzle. The various findings and arguments from each piece of literature form the individual puzzle pieces, and you then put these together to develop a picture of the current state of knowledge. Importantly, that puzzle will in all likelihood have pieces that don't fit well together, and pieces that are missing. It's seldom a pretty puzzle!

By the stop of this process of critical review and synthesis of the existing literature, information technology should be articulate what's missing – in other words, the gaps exist in the current research. These gaps then form the foundation for your proposed study. In other words, your study will endeavor to contribute a missing puzzle piece (or go two pieces to fit together).

Then, when you're crafting your literature review affiliate, remember that this chapter needs to go well beyond a basic clarification of the existing research – information technology needs to synthesise it (bring it all together) and grade the foundation for your report.

Mistake #5: Irrelevant or unfocused content

Another mutual mistake we see in literature review capacity is quite simply the inclusion of irrelevant content. Some capacity can waffle on for pages and pages and exit the reader thinking, "so what?"

And so, how do you determine what's relevant?

Well, to ensure you stay on-topic and focus, you need to revisit your research aims, objectives and research questions. Remember, the purpose of the literature review is to build the theoretical foundation that will assistance y'all achieve your research aims and objectives, and respond your inquiry questions. Therefore, relevant content is the relatively narrow body of content that relates directly to those 3 components.

Let's look at an example.

If your research aims to place factors that cultivate employee loyalty and commitment, your literature review needs to focus on existing research that identifies such factors. Uncomplicated enough, right? Well, during your review process, you will invariably come across plenty of research relating to employee loyalty and commitment, including things like:

• The benefits of high employee commitment
• The different types of delivery
• The impact of commitment on corporate culture
• The links between commitment and productivity

While all of these relate to employee commitment, they're non focused on the research aims, objectives and questions, as they're not identifying factors that foster employee delivery. Of form, they may still be useful in helping you justify your topic, so they'll probable have a place somewhere in your dissertation or thesis. However, for your literature review, you need to continue things focused.

So, as y'all work through your literature review, always circumvolve back to your research aims, objective and enquiry questions and apply them as a litmus test for article relevance.

Mistake #half-dozen: Poor chapter structure and layout

Even the best content tin fail to earn marks when the literature review chapter is poorly structured. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common issue, resulting in disjointed, poorly-flowing arguments that are difficult for the reader (the mark…) to follow.

The nearly common reason that students land upwards with a poor structure is that they start writing their literature review chapter without a programme or structure. Of course, every bit we've discussed before, writing is a course of thinking, so you don't need to program out every detail before you start writing. Even so, yous should at least have an outline construction penned down before you hit the keyboard.

So, how should you structure your literature review?

We've covered literature review structure in detail previously, and then I won't go into it here. However, as a quick overview, your literature review should consist of iii core sections:

1. The introduction section – where you lot outline your topic, innovate whatever definitions and jargon and ascertain the scope of your literature review.
2. The body section – where you sink your teeth into the existing inquiry. This can be bundled in various ways (due east.thousand. thematically, chronologically or methodologically).
3. The decision section – where yous present the central takeaways and highlight the research gap (or gaps), which lays the foundation for your study.

Some other reason that students state up with a poor structure is that they start writing their literature affiliate prematurely. In other words, they commencement writing earlier they've finished digesting the literature. This is a plush mistake, equally it always results in extensive rewriting, which takes a lot longer than but doing it i step at a fourth dimension. Again, it's completely natural to do a petty extra reading as thoughts crop up during the writing process, simply you should complete your core reading before you lot start writing.

Long story short – don't first writing your literature review without some sort of structural plan. This structure can (and likely volition) evolve as you lot write, merely yous need some sort of outline equally a starting point.

Error #seven: Plagiarism and poor referencing

This one is by far the virtually unforgivable literature review mistake, as it carries 1 of the heaviest penalties, while it is so easily avoidable.

All too oft, we see literature reviews that, at first glance, look pretty adept. Nonetheless, a quick run through a plagiarism checker and it quickly becomes credible that the student has failed to fully assimilate the literature they've reviewed and put it into their own words.

"Just, the original author said it perfectly…"

I go it – sometimes the mode an writer phrased something is "simply perfect" and you can't find a better manner to say it. In those (pretty rare) cases, you can employ direct quotes (and a citation, of course). All the same, for the vast majority of your literature review, you demand to put things into your ain words.

The good news is that if you focus on integrating and synthesising the literature (every bit I mentioned in point iii), you shouldn't run into this issue too oftentimes, as you'll naturally be writing nearly the relationships between studies, not merely virtually the studies themselves. Call back, if you can't explain something simply (in your own words), you don't really empathise it.

A related issue that we encounter quite ofttimes is plainly onetime-fashioned poor referencing. This can include citation and reference formatting problems (for case, Harvard or APA manner errors), or just a straight out lack of references. In academic writing, if y'all fail to reference a source, you are effectively claiming the piece of work every bit your own, which equates to plagiarism. This might seem harmless, simply plagiarism is a serious form of academic misconduct and could toll you a lot more than just a few marks.

So, when you lot're writing up your literature review, remember that you need to digest the content and put everything into your own words. You also demand to reference the sources of any and all ideas, theories, frameworks and models you describe on.

Recap: 7 Literature Review Mistakes

We've covered a lot of ground in this mail service. Let's speedily recap on the 7 near common literature review mistakes.

1. Over-reliance on low-quality sources
2. A lack of landmark/seminal literature
3. A lack of current literature
4. Clarification instead of integration and synthesis
5. Irrelevant or unfocused content
6. Poor chapter construction and layout
7. Plagiarism and poor referencing

If you have whatever questions most these literature review mistakes, leave a comment beneath and we'll do our best to answer. If you'd like to get 1-on-1 assist with your literature review, book a free initial consultation with a friendly coach to discuss how we tin can movement you forrad.

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Source: https://gradcoach.com/literature-review-mistakes/

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