RSP: Critical Literature Review – inclusive thoughts

07.11.2006

[Mike Grenfell]

Writing a critical literature review

How does your research topic fit in?

(Background)

What is availabole to me in terms of documents?

(What you can quote in a research)

What should be the process in producing a CLR?Divide the area of the review into sections

Always explain the structure of the chapter or section
REview periodically
Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you have told them (true for chapters/sections)
Work to a word legth
Don’t just describe – copmment with your views
Thesis + antithesis -> synthesis
Syntethize: narrative structure + meta narrative
Be careful with “I”, “should”, “this”
Use 1.1.; 1.2.; 1.3. and so on, but not overdo it
Use citations with effects
Be prepared to up-date

What characterizes a CLR?

A literature review is a kind of this is my way to tell the story
You can seek some guidelines, but you need to do it in your own way.
It’s you developing your version of it.
Enough reference but not too much reference. Don’t do oblique reference.
The tone of a critical review tend to be passive, rather than in the first person.
Analyse a critical review:

layout

language [sense of audience]

style

What do I have do?