Review of Related LiteratureBy: Husam M. BinSasi

University of Misurata, Faculty of Arts

What is it?

• Literature Review is a critical evaluation of material that

has already been published.

• By organizing, integrating and evaluating previously

published material, writers of literature reviews consider

the progress of research toward clarifying a problem.

How to do it?

• Define an clarify the problem

• Summarize previous investigations to inform the reader

of the state of the research;

• Identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and

inconsistencies in the literature; and

• Suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem

What’s in there?

Listing themes:

You need to include all the themes that are required to improve understanding about

the focused topic of your problem.

Related Studies:

Include at least three studies that are related to your topic and compare them with

your current study in terms of their:

Problem

Methodology

Conclusions

Organization?

• organize related studies according to:

1. Similarity in the concepts or theories of interests,

2. Methodological similarities among the studies reviewed or;

3. The historical development of the field.

Process of Writing a

Literature Review

• Grandello (2001) linked the activity of writing a literature

review with Benjamin Bloom’s revised taxonomy of the

cognitive domain.

1. Remembering 2. Understanding. 3. Applying.

4. Analyzing. 5. Evaluating. 6. Creating

What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom's taxonomy is a way of distinguishing

the fundamental questions within the education

system. It is named after Benjamin Bloom, who

chaired the committee of educators that devised

the taxonomy.

Domains of the Taxonomy

Bloom's taxonomy refers to a classification

of the different objectives that educators set

for students (learning objectives). It divides

educational objectives into three "domains":

cognitive, affective, and psychomotor

Cognitive Domain of the Taxonomy

• Granello (2001) only implemented the cognitive domain

of Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to clarify the process of

writing Literature Review.

• Before presenting the link drawn by Granello’s (2001) in

his study, it is important to understand the revised

division of Bloom’s Taxonomy by Krathwohl (2002).

Krathwohl’s Revised Taxonomy

Now we get to Granello’s link of

Bloom’s Taxonomy with the Process of

writing a Literature Review

Remembering

For a person doing a literature

review this would include tasks such as

recognition, retrieval and recollection of

the relevant literature. During this stage

relevant books, articles, monographs,

dissertations, etc. are identified and read

Understanding

Understanding occurs as the scholar

comprehends the material they have collected

and read. This step is critical because no one

can write clearly about something they do not

understand. Understanding may be challenging

because the literature could introduce the

scholar to new terminology, conceptual

framework and methodology. Comprehension

(particularly for new scholars) is often

improved by taking careful notes.

Applying

The scholar is able to makeconnections between the literature and his orher larger research project. This isparticularly true if the literature review is tobe a chapter in a future empirical study. Theliterature review begins to inform theresearch question, and methodologicalapproaches.

Analyzing

When scholars analyze, they are able to

separate material into parts and figure out how the

parts fit together. Analysis of the literature allows

the scholar to develop frameworks for analysis and

the ability to see the big picture and know how

details from the literature fit within the big picture.

Analysis facilitates the development of an outline

(list). The books, articles and monographs read will

be of different quality and value.

Evaluation

When scholars evaluate they

are able to see the strengths and

weaknesses of the theories,

arguments, methodology and

findings of the literature they have

collected and read.

Creating

When scholars create, they bring creativity to

the process of doing a literature review. In other

words, they draw new and original insights from the

literature. They may be able to find a fresh and

original research question, identify a heretofore,

unknown gap in the literature or make surprising

connections. By understanding how ways of thinking

connect to tasks of a literature review, a scholar is

able to be self-reflective and bring metacognition to

the process of reviewing the literature.

References

American Psychological Association. (2011). Publication manual of the American

Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Granello, D. H. (2001). Promoting Cognitive Complexity in Graduate Written

Work: Using Bloom's Taxonomy as a Pedagogical Tool to Improve

Literature Reviews. Counselor Education and Supervision, 40(4)

292-307. DOI: 10.1002/j.1556-6978.2001.tb01261.x

Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory

Into Practice, 41(4)212–218. Retrieved from:

http://www. unco.edu/cetl/sir/stating_outcome/documents/krathwohl.pdf