Conducting a Literature Review for the Social Sciences

Questions to address when writing a Literature Review portion of your paper:

• The literature review is related to the research problem  Yes / No
  
  
• It is clearly stated whether the literature review reflects what the researchers knew and believed before data collection, during data collection, during data analysis or after data analysis  Yes / No. If yes, state which
  
  
• The review shows a critical attitude, rather than simply and/or indiscriminately summarising studies  Yes / No
  
  
• The review shows a discernible logic that points towards the research purpose  Yes / No

Source: See page 13.  Noyes J & Lewin S. Chapter 5: Extracting qualitative evidence. In: Noyes J, Booth A, Hannes K, Harden A, Harris J, Lewin S, Lockwood C (editors), Supplementary Guidance for Inclusion of Qualitative Research in Cochrane Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Version 1 (updated August 2011). Cochrane Collaboration Qualitative Methods Group, 2011. Available from URL http://cqrmg.cochrane.org/supplemental-handbook-guidance

Selected readings (with checklists) addressing literature review and other aspects of qualitative research (see links below):

Consider using the templates below to compare research articles and determining thematic trends and outcomes: