Writing a literature review can be easy and fun if you know what it includes, how to organize it and where to collect information from. Unless you know how exactly you can start writing a literature review, you will continue to procrastinate. I am going to give you three tips now that will enable you to understand the process and allow you to start writing a literature review successfully.
1. Writing a Literature Review – Find out what it includes:
When you start writing a literature review, you need to find out what it contains and how it’s written. For example, your introduction states what you will write about in your literature review. Also, Support your argument and explain why others are wrong. Discuss how similar or different the work of different authors was, in your area of study. Talk about gaps in previous research and suggest where further research is required. When you write your conclusion discuss your main argument and how your points support it. So, you need to discuss this with you advisor that what your literature review should contain.
2. Writing a Literature Review – Find out how it’s organized:
Once you know what your literature review should contain, you then need to find out how it is organized. You need to know how all the material you write should be combined. Discuss this with your advisor as well.
3. Writing a Literature Review – Find out Where to collect relevant matter from:
In order to collect relevant matter for your literature review, you need to go through articles, journals, books, etc. You may go through prewritten literature review samples as well to find more sources for your own literature review. Check your library or search for prewritten literature review samples online.
Writing a literature review is not an easy task. You must prepare yourself for a lot of reading. As your literature review shows how broad your research was, you have no choice but to do a thorough research and collect as much relevant matter as you can to facilitate your writing process.
3 Tips for Writing a Literature Review Successfully
How to Write a Literature Review?
If you don’t know how to write a literature review then you can’t demonstrate that you have read and understood the work published on a particular topic. Not knowing how to write a literature review also shows that you have not done enough research and, therefore, are unable to produce it. In order to find out how to write a literature review, you need to understand what it should contain.
You don’t write your literature review simply to describe the publications of others or summarize what others have written. Instead, it is a critical discussion that shows your understanding of different arguments, approaches and theories. Follow these important points in order to stop wondering how to write a literature review:
- You need to provide an overview of your literature review. Also, state the objectives of the literature review.
- When you write a literature review, you should present how similar or different the work of previous authors was.
- You need to define areas in which different authors either agreed or disagreed with each other.
- Your literature review should demonstrate gaps in research. It should define where further research is required.
- You need to demonstrate how your research is related to previous studies in your field.
When you don’t know how to write a literature review, it is crucial to remember the points mentioned above. Make sure you know the difference between an annotated bibliography and a literature review in order to write it correctly. All you need to do now is to carry out an in-depth research and write your literature review successfully.
Literature Review
A literature review shows previous publications on a particular topic by qualified researchers and scholars. Your literature review demonstrates how broad your research is, what knowledge and ideas you have established on a topic and how strong and weak they are. It should be related to you research question. You need to be able to scan the literature effectively and identify useful books, articles, journals, etc. You should also be able to identify fair and valid studies.
When you write your literature review, follow these points:
- You need to recognize areas of debate in the literature.
- You need to devise questions that require further research.
- When you conduct your literature review, your need to determine what your approach should be. For example, qualitative research, quantitative research, etc.
- Determine what sort of publications you should be using, for example, books, journals, articles, etc.
- You should scrutinize your research abilities. Whether your research was broad enough to gather pertinent matter for your literature review? Have you used enough sources to write your paper? Did you manage to narrow down your topic and exclude irrelevant matter?
- You need to examine the literature that you collect and discuss its strengths and weaknesses.
- Read your literature review and determine whether your readers will find it informative and useful.
It is imperative that you manage to find relevant sources for your literature review. You will have to carry out an in-depth research in order to collect relevant matter. It is advisable to go through both online and offline resources in order to write an effective literature review.
BSc Dissertations
The purpose of your BSc dissertation is to show what skills you have acquired and what you have learned in your BSc program. Not only you have to produce your original research, you also have to present your results in writing. So, what should be your approach when you write your BSc dissertation? Well, let’s now discuss a few important points that every BSc dissertation writer must know.
Your BSc Dissertation Sandwich Course:
You have to write your BSc dissertation in your final year. But don’t worry, neither will you have to actually do a sandwich course, nor will you be writing about sandwiches. Between your 2nd year and 4th year you can do a placement year, where you will work for one year and get real hands-on experience. Since your placement year is in the middle of your 2nd year and 4th year, like sandwiched in the middle, this is why it’s called a sandwich course.
You may choose to do a placement year, or move directly to your last year. Spending your 3rd year on placement will be very beneficial for you due to the real work experience that you will gain. The work that you do in your placement year can’t be reproduced in your final year BSc dissertation. Make sure you discuss this with your advisor and find out what should be done exactly.
Confirm How Many Times You Can Contact Your BSc Dissertation Supervisor:
You must stay in touch with your BSc dissertation supervisor. But you must confirm how many times you may contact your supervisor. Each student might have a maximum contact time of 7 hours or 8 hours. You must find out and utilize this time effectively. You will most likely meet him/her the most in the beginning to discuss your ideas, methods and issues. Later on you will give him your draft dissertation to get his or her comments. So, you must make sure you utilize this time as efficiently as possible.
Your Final Year BSc Dissertation vs. Essays
Let’s now talk about some differences between your BSc dissertation and essays. You write your BSc dissertation on a topic that you choose. Your BSc dissertation contains your original research. It should reflect your own thinking and it should be based on the literature and the data that you collect. After an in-depth research, you develop ideas and then present your results in writing.
So, collect as much information as you can, relevant to your BSc dissertation, in order to facilitate your BSc dissertation writing process and finally earn your degree.
Dissertation Report Format
Are you wondering what the format of your dissertation report should be? You don’t need to wonder because you can check your university guidelines to understand the format of your dissertation report and when it should be submitted. Let’s now discuss some of the important things that you actually must know about dissertation report format and submission.
Dissertation Report Paper:
Find out about paper size and confirm if it should be A4 size. Also, find out about the weight and whiteness.
Dissertation Report Font Style and Size:
Confirm the standard font style and size. You might have to use Times New Roman of 12 pts.
Dissertation Report Margins:
Confirm your top, bottom, left and right margins.
Dissertation Report Page Format:
Find out about Head height, Head separation , Footer and Foot separation. Confirm if line spacing should be 1.5. Also, check whether you should use single or double-sided printing.
Dissertation Report Page Numbering:
Check your page numbering that whether it should be in the header or the footer. Also confirm if page numbers should be centered or should be at the corner. Find out what style should be used in the body of the report and what style should be used in the opening pages.
Submitting Your Dissertation Report:
Find out the deadline and submit your dissertation report before the deadline. Confirm how many bound copies you will have to submit. Also find out how many copies you will have to submit again for your dissertation defense.
Find Out Everything:
Now you have understood what you need to find out. But these are just some of the main things that you must confirm. Check your university guidelines and also discuss with your advisor that how you should put your dissertation report together, how should each part be written, what should your writing style be, what the format of your dissertation report should be and when should it be submitted. Knowing the dissertation report format will facilitate your dissertation writing process tremendously.
Dissertation Research and Writing
In-depth dissertation research is the most important part of your dissertation writing process. Without sufficient material, you won’t be able to write much. Therefore, it is crucial to acquire as much information, relevant to the theme of your dissertation, as possible. Let’s now discuss three important things that you should know when you start your research and writing.
1) Get Ready to Work Hard:
When you start your dissertation research, you won’t be able to give as much time to your friends and family as you used to. But you won’t be like this forever of course. You will be able to spend time again with your loved-ones once you are done with your research and writing. You need to understand that you have to remain focused. If you don’t have a definite plan and don’t stay focused, you won’t be able to accomplish much. But your efforts will pay off as soon as you are done with your dissertation because you will finally get your long-awaited degree.
2) Where to Search for Matter?
It’s not enough to know that you need to carry out an in-depth dissertation research; you should also know where you can find ample matter from. First of all, get into the habit of taking notes. When you read a journal, newspaper, book, article, or talk to your advisor, professors, friends, make sure you take notes. You also need to have access to both local and online libraries. Go through the prewritten dissertations to find sources for your own dissertation.
3) Research vs. Writing:
Collecting a lot of material for your dissertation is not enough. You should also know how each part of your dissertation is written and what it should contain. There is no need to start from chapter 1. If you feel comfortable with the 2nd chapter, start with chapter 2 then. Make sure you check your university guidelines and talk to your advisor regarding the length, format and writing style of your dissertation.
It is advisable to make up your mind that dissertation research won’t be easy. This way you will be able to prepare yourself and get ready to work hard for it. If you take it as an easy task, you will be disappointed and your disappointment will also lead to procrastinate. So, get ready to work hard, collect matter from all different sources and write your dissertation successfully.
Dissertation Projects
When students start their dissertation projects, they ask one similar question, “What should I do?” The answer is relatively simple: “Stay in touch with your advisor”. Why should you stay in touch with your advisor might be your next question. The reason behind this is to ensure that you know the specific requirements for your dissertation project in order to complete it in time. Requirements and specifications of dissertation projects vary from one university to another. So, get in touch with your advisor and also check out your university guidelines to find out what needs to be done and what your approach should be. Let me know give you a general guideline that will help you understand your dissertation project and writing process.
- Choose a topic pertinent to your degree program and make it manageable by narrowing it down. Make sure there is ample matter available and you won’t have any trouble finding information in future. After that, go ahead and write your dissertation proposal. Talk to your advisor or check your university guidelines for your proposal.
- Assuming this is a 5-chapter dissertation project, your first chapter will be the Introduction. Explain the purpose, intention and goal of your research.
- Chapter 2 of your dissertation project will be Literature Review. You need to show that you have read widely and also have up-to-date information. It should show that you have conducted a thorough search.
- Dissertation Methodology, which is the 3rd chapter of your dissertation project, should define the methods you used during your research. As there are different methods like interviews, surveys, etc, discuss with your advisor that what method you should adopt for your dissertation.
- Chapter 4 of your dissertation project will be Results and Discussion. You need to provide your own results with reference to what you found in your literature review. Along with recommendations, present your investigation of any new themes that emerged from your research.
- Chapter 5 of your dissertation project will be Conclusion. As the title says it all, you need to conclude your whole project. You need to also talk about the focus of further research.
- The last part of your dissertation project will be the Bibliography. You have to show each source that you used in your dissertation.
You have now understood the structure of your dissertation project. In order to understand the specific requirements of each part of your dissertation project, talk to your advisor. It’s not an easy task but not impossible either. It will require persistence, determination and in-depth research skills. So, get ready to write and complete your dissertation.
MA Dissertation
Not only writing your MA dissertation requires thorough research, your MA dissertation topic requires thorough research as well. If you don’t choose your MA dissertation topic wisely, the chances are you won’t finish your dissertation in time. It’s important to know what mistakes students make when they choose a topic and turn it into a nightmare. Let’s discuss the 3 common mistakes that you must not make in order to come up with an MA dissertation topic which will help you stay focused and finish your dissertation in time.
MA Dissertation Topic – Mistake # 1:
Choosing a vague or ambiguous MA dissertation topic is a big mistake. You have to present your understanding and learning in a clear way and a vague topic will never help you achieve this. Your topic should give you a clear picture of what needs to be done. Therefore, you must make sure that your MA dissertation topic is not ambiguous at all.
MA Dissertation Topic – Mistake # 2:
You must not choose an MA dissertation topic that is too broad. It has to be concise and to the point. Choosing a broad MA dissertation topic will not help you at all. It will actually become difficult to manage all the information in a concise way. So, make sure you manage to narrowly define your topic in order to write your MA dissertation in time.
MA Dissertation Topic – Mistake # 3:
When you choose an MA dissertation topic, you need to make sure that there is ample material available to complete your dissertation. If you can’t find enough information then you must not opt for that topic.
It is imperative to do an in-depth research for your MA dissertation topic. If you don’t choose a clear, concise and narrowly defined topic with ample material then you will only procrastinate and it will even further delay your degree. So, get ready to do thorough research for your MA dissertation topic as this is the only way to succeed.
MBA Dissertation
You are required to write an MBA dissertation in order to complete your MBA program and earn your degree. Your MBA dissertation corroborates the veracity of your claim that you have understood the matter covered in your courses. You can write your dissertation if you know the matter and that how it should be written. So, when you are ready to write your MBA dissertation, make sure you are aware of the following:
- Stay in touch with your MBA dissertation advisor. It is your responsibility to make appointments with him. You should also submit your work prior to meeting in order to receive constructive criticism. He won’t be correcting your spelling mistakes or organizing your paper though. Rather, he will provide you with valuable suggestions.
- You need to confirm how many words you have to write for your MBA dissertation. If you have to write 20,000 words then find out if they include title, appendices, references, etc, or not. So, check your university guidelines and also confirm with your advisor.
- Decide the structure for your MBA dissertation. You may opt for any form that you like or even combine research-based document, a case study, a business report or a business plan.
- The research that you conduct for your MBA dissertation should be quantitative and qualitative research. It should prove facts and establish legitimacy and examine the importance of events and conditions.
Whenever you face a problem related to MBA dissertation, simply refer to your university guidelines or consult with your advisor instead of making assumptions. I have highlighted some crucial points that you should know when you write your MBA dissertation in order to complete your MBA program and earn your degree.