Look at this frustrated man. He has to complete writing a dissertation literature review due next week, and his expressions scream an untold story of agony.
However, we believe almost all of us have been there and done that. Collectively, all the students know the overwhelming feelings, gradually crawling into your brain wearing the mask of anxiety. Moreover, the simultaneous pressure of original research in the literature review, deadlines and adhering to academic standards is heavy on the student’s minds.
Thus, it is important to develop effective strategies for managing this stress. The easiest way out is to break one big assignment into smaller, manageable tasks. Therefore, today, we shall discuss how to write a dissertation literature review.
The Dissertation Literature Review Blue Print
Almost 3% of the global population is a student right now. We are speaking of higher education on the global level. The number might be trivial, but the struggle to pass the thesis is not.
Perhaps this is why many students give up on the efforts of writing and instead, they will prefer to hire a service and tell them, write my dissertation for me. Thought it would only be a temporary relief for them.
Learning the art of dissertation writing is crucial. The instructors do not assign it to you only for some marks; there is a deeper meaning behind it. It teaches us critical thinking, convincing, and evaluating skills.
Important Notes to Consider Before Writing…
To begin with, if you directly start scrolling the search engine result pages and websites, you might experience an overwhelming emotion. This is normal if the human mind is exposed to too much information all at once.
A wonderful move at this point would be to sit down, meditate for a while, and get away from all the thoughts. Now aim all your focus on one thing – your topic. Create a pool of ideas in your mind about which direction you want to proceed in, and note everything down.
These notes will act as your guiding stars when you lose track, as the literature review is extensive. Almost 20 pages and 2,000 words long. Moving on, now that you have a direction, you can start the actual writing process by using the blueprint which we are about to share.
- Mindfully Design Every Move
When you sit at the desk with your laptop and word-processing software open right in front of you, the research question should be the only thing on your mind. Hence, look at it as the foundation of your entire writing effort and pay great attention as you work on the scope of the review.
The scope will help you find the exact themes, time frames and types of studies to move ahead with while staying relevant. Expert researchers suggest that you must create a detailed plan that outlines your approach to searching, evaluating and synthesising the literature.
- Begin the Search & Be Patient
After you have decided on the milestones and a timeline to manage the upcoming journey, it is time to initiate a thorough literature search. If you are doing this for the first time, then you might want to go slow and use the academic databases mentioned below for authentic information.
- PubMed
- Google Scholar
- JSTOR
- A physical library
- Project Muse
- EconLit
- Inspec
Other than that, you must also incorporate a combination of keywords to refine your search. The process might test your patience, but as instructed by the service providers of dissertation help UK – Keep your calm, trust the process and do not forget to record everything in detail.
- Evaluate All the Sources You Pick
By now, you must have gathered a substantial number of primary, secondary and tertiary sources. However, before putting any of these into the final document, run at least three checks on each source for originality, accuracy, quality and credibility.
This means you must go back and find out about the authors. They all have to be reliable and relevant to your research question. Moreover, keep an eye out for any biases or limitations to the studies you have shortlisted. You can also create a summary for each source specifying its key findings, strengths and weaknesses.
- Dive in & Categorise the Information
The next step is to analyse the information from your sources and divide it into different themes, methodologies and theoretical frameworks very wisely. This is crucial for identifying the common patterns, trends and gaps in your literature.
After that, you need to group similar studies and make sure there are no conflicts in the findings. The summary you wrote earlier will come in handy for this, combined with tools like concept maps to organise and visualise different studies. As a result, you will be able to create a coherent narrative in your dissertation literature review.
- Develop a Structural Framework
A structural framework is required to write an effective literature review. Without a proper outline, everything would be all over the place, and we certainly do not want that to happen. Therefore, deciding on a layout that best suits your research is worthwhile and much recommended. Though which one to pick?
The choice is yours. A writer may use a chronological, thematic, methodological and theoretical approach in his or her literature review. No matter which framework, each of them will serve as a roadmap for a well-written dissertation.
- Now You Can Start Penning Down
So far, the ideas and sources are ready to pool into the structure while writing. The only thing left now is to open a word-processing software like MS Word or Google Docs and start typing. The first paragraph will be the formal introduction, followed by the scope and purpose of the review.
After you provide a context for your research question, it is time to initiate the main body. Here, you add all the findings and cite the sources simultaneously. Besides that, make sure that the text is divided into many paragraphs with headings for a comprehensible appearance.
Important Notes to Consider After Writing…
- Ensure a carefully proofread document. Completely free from any grammatical errors, typos and discrepancies.
- All arguments need to be clear and supported by evidence. Use tools if necessary.
- Always accept constructive criticism from your peers, mentors and advisors.
- Keep your literature review up-to-date and wide-ranging.
Conclusion of Writing a Literature Review in Dissertation
Writing a dissertation is no doubt a lengthy task and requires plenty of human effort. It also feasts energy and cognitive thinking skills, but no matter what, the results are always the best.
However, now you no longer have to linger around in frustration and stress to complete a dissertation literature review. We have just the right ladder for you to reach your destination. Start by brainstorming, planning every move, and being patient. After you have collected all the relevant studies required, just begin the writing process.
One last thing to keep in mind is the originality. No compromises on this aspect are made, and they can even cause severe damage to your career. So, be wise and take every step strategically. May the force be with you!