A Literature Review in Research is intended to help readers understand the current research and discussions that are pertinent to a particular subject or field of study and to communicate that understanding in the form of a written report.
The primary goal of a literature review is to write a paper that involves summarising recent advancements in a specific topic and the knowledge on the issue is summarised in the report. The reader’s understanding of the topic is improved by discussing the results presented in recent research publications.
Describe how each piece relates to the other works being considered and find fresh angles for interpreting earlier works. Identify any gaps in the available research and reconcile apparent contradictions in prior studies.
Some Important Purposes of Literature Review in Research
purposes number one,
Literature review is for you to validate that you have a compact understanding of the literature, the research, and your research questions. So your research is going to be on a topic and the starting point for your discussion is to show that whatever your research question is, whatever the aim of your research is, you need to prove that you know what has already been done. So that’s the really first step and maybe it’s the most important function.
Purpose number two,
The second reason for a literature review, is for you, to form the basis of literature to show that there is a research gap. To show that there is a need for your specific research.
If you’re doing a master’s are you doing Ph.D. research regardless of the level that you’re at there’s some requirement for originality. Generally, universities don’t want you to research something that’s been done a million times.
So what the literature review serves to do is for you to go and do the work and to figure out where are the gaps in the literature, where are the gaps in the research, how can I take a unique angle and something new that’s not been done before, how can I take a unique angle in terms of context or terms of a specific country a specific environment, etc.
The second function of your literature review and you are just reviewing the literature the actual act of reviewing it is for you to establish that clear need for your research.
Purpose number three
Now, the third function is not necessarily relevant to everyone. Still, for those of you who are planning to build a theoretical model or conceptual model, the conceptual framework of the literature review is the basis of that.
What you would then be doing is taking the various theories and the various pieces of research that have been undertaken in the past and building some sort of conceptual model that you would then go on to test and validate. Perhaps not relevant to everyone but that is an important function if you are doing any sort of quantitative validation testing etc.
Purpose number four
The point is that a very important function of the literature review is for you to get some inspiration, to get some insights, and perhaps even some useful practical tools and takeaways to inform your methodology.
So those are the four important functions of the literature review and the first two are really what you need to keep in mind during the literature survey. It’s only a critical recap of what has already been researched on a topic, so no need to panic.
Conclusion
It is concluded that the importance of A Literature Review Paper in Research is as follows:
- It provides us with a piece of background information on the subject and the topic of research.
- It also helps to determine areas of existing study to avoid duplication and to properly credit other scholars.
- It helps to recognize contradictions, such as gaps in the literature, inconsistencies between studies, and unanswered questions from other studies.
- It helps to justify your research and research outputs with the previous research and helps to formulate a new research question
- It also determines the connection between the research works done and their impact on the subject and other works carried out.
- It also put your own findings in the context of the existing literature and argues why more research is necessary for the same in the future.
This is all about this article, and we sincerely hope that the purpose, information, advice, and ideas we’ve provided will be useful to you as you are going to write a review paper in your journey of research and you are familiar with the literature review paper writing. KressUp is an online learning platform that occasionally publishes new articles; stay connected to more updates
Please share and subscribe to our website so that it can help as many people as possible. You can also write to us at info@kressup.com for a free consultation if you’re looking for further E-content or research support.
If you find this article useful, don’t forget to share it!
Related articles:
- How to write A literature Review paper II Literature Review Paper structure
- 4 Easy Steps To Writing A Literature Review Paper
- What Is A Literature Review And Types Of Literature Review
General FAQ Related To Literature
Q 1. Why is literature so important?
It provides us with a piece of background information on the subject and the topic of research.
It also helps to determine areas of existing study to avoid duplication and to properly credit other scholars.
It helps to recognize contradictions, such as gaps in the literature, inconsistencies between studies, and unanswered questions from other studies.
It helps to justify your research and research outputs with the previous research and helps to formulate a new research question
It also determines the connection between the research works done and their impact on the subject and other works carried out.
It also put your own findings in the context of the existing literature and argues why more research is necessary for the same in the future.
Q 2. What does literature mean to you?
The Literature in research is to write a report or manuscript that involves summarising all research carried out on a specific topic and the knowledge on the issue is summarised in the report.
Q 3. What does it mean to study literature?
Studying literature entails gaining knowledge about words, concepts, ideas, culture, and traditions. More than that, studying literature will open our eyes to a new universe of knowledge, allowing our minds to wander to the thoughts and concepts of a brand-new world that enrich our intellectual lives.