How many people are affected by the problem?.Why is this an important problem to study?.Who would want to read about something unimportant?Ī problem statement generally answers the following questions, though these are far from exhaustive: At the same time, it also pulls your reader into the literature review. On one hand, it establishes why your topic is a social problem worth studying. The problem statement serves two functions. Many scholarly works begin with a problem statement. And finally, but most importantly, how does my own research fit into what has already been done?.What are the limitations of a study/where are the gaps in the research?.
#Signpost literature how to
If there is something that you are missing, you may want to jump back to section 2.3 where we discussed how to search for literature on your topic. You may also want to consult with your professor on what they expect from you. 61)ĭo you have enough facts and sources to accomplish these tasks? It’s a good time to consult your outlines and notes on each article you plan to include in your literature review. While this information can appear in any order, these are the elements in all literature reviews. Literature reviews also define the primary concepts. This is done by summarizing current understandings and by discussing why what we already knows leads to the need for the present research. They also locate the research within the ongoing scholarly dialogue.
…clearly describe the questions that are being asked. But what do you need to include in your literature review? We’ve mentioned it before here, but just to summarize, a literature review should: If you’ve followed the steps in this chapter, you likely have an outline from which you can begin the writing process.