Anthropology

A literature review assesses a body of research, published by accredited scholars and researchers, that is connected to your research question and can either be a part of a larger work (e.g. thesis or dissertation) or stand on its own. 

Purpose: A literature review

• Identifies what is already known about an area of study
• Includes all the facets that might touch the topic
• Helps identify questions a body of research has yet to answer
• Makes a case for why further study of research questions is important

Process:

It is a journey that is cyclical rather than linear.  Expect to return to and refine earlier efforts as your understanding of the research changes and grows.  

• Framing a research question
• Searching through the existing work
• Managing your search results
• Synthesizing the content from the research literature you've selected
• Writing an assessment of the existing literature

Need another way to think about literature reviews?  These are great docs to help with that.  Also, there are some really useful tips on managing the process and corralling all those notes!