How to create a Literature Review Chapter

Let me join in answering this, while also sharing my thoughts about the common shortcomings or weaknesses in our students' theses. Our students often underestimate Chapter 2, the chapter of all chapters. Students tend to believe that going straight into the field for research is everything. They sometimes forget they are not journalists who can directly jump into the field to cover a story. Journalists and academic researchers are very different. Students are academics who must write based on previously tested research.

Chapter 2 is where all the wisdom from previous great scholars is passed down. It is the foundation that allows you to later discuss how your field findings compare with existing studies. Here’s an analogy: saying, "My product is great, sir, it’s just great, you must buy it," would be much better expressed as, "My product is great, sir, because it solves all the problems identified in previous products (previous studies)." Which of these approaches do you think would sell better?

Allow me to discuss Chapter 2 the super chapter in greater detail.

The first function of the literature review is to demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of the existing literature, regardless of your research question or objectives. You need to show that you know exactly what you're doing. Academic writing is about "standing on the shoulders of giants," a phrase often seen when opening Google Scholar. Therefore, you must know who these giants are, who conducted previous research, what they said, and how they constructed their arguments. On Google Scholar, there’s the expression: "Standing on the shoulders of giants" a metaphor meaning "using the understanding gained by previous great thinkers to make intellectual progress." It symbolizes dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants (Latin: nanos gigantium humeris insidentes), or "discovering truth by building upon previous discoveries."

The second function of the literature review is to show the gap in existing knowledge. It demonstrates the need for new or specific research. When pursuing a master's or doctoral degree, there is usually a requirement for originality. Generally, universities do not want you researching something that has been done thousands of times before what's the point of replicating identical research? Thus, the literature review’s purpose is to find gaps in existing literature and research, to identify new angles that haven't yet been explored, and to propose unique viewpoints, contexts, or environments. Ultimately, this helps you determine exactly what you need for your research.

The third function, particularly important if you're planning to develop a theoretical or conceptual model, is that the literature review provides the foundation for your conceptual framework. You’ll draw from various theories from past research to create a conceptual model, which you’ll then test and validate. While not relevant for everyone, this is crucial if you are performing quantitative validation or similar methodologies.

The fourth and final function of the literature review is to build a methodological foundation. Reviewing relevant literature related to your research question and objectives allows you to gain insights into previous methodologies. Did previous researchers use qualitative or quantitative methods? If quantitative, did they use validated and tested questions? Did they publish their questionnaires? Thus, the literature review provides an opportunity to deeply explore existing research methodologies. Often, if you plan a survey, a thorough literature review can help you find excellent sets of validated questions.

I usually instruct my students to create a table or chart that includes:

1. Author's name

2. Title and year

3. Research focus

4. Location

5. Methodology used

6. Results obtained

This categorization helps students clearly see what needs to be done, where the gaps are, and which alternative perspectives might be valuable to explore.

A major weakness of our students is their laziness in reading; they sometimes treat literature reviews merely as explaining concepts and theories without critically analyzing them. Consequently, I often encounter overly descriptive literature reviews, even from doctoral students, which leaves me shaking my head. Sometimes students even need to be spoon-fed to the extent of asking me for keywords. :(

The soul of any research, whether undergraduate, master's, or doctoral, is Chapter 2: THE LITERATURE REVIEW. If you get this wrong from the start, your fieldwork will be meaningless. Even the background chapter, the teaser or trailer of your research, relies heavily on the literature review as its backbone. Without Chapter 2, how can you argue the importance of your findings for new understandings or insights emerging from your study, particularly in comparison to previous research?

The functions I mentioned above are drawn from the following video, combined with my personal experiences:

[1] How To Write A Literature Review In 3 Simple Steps (FREE Template With Examples)