LESSON 57- CHAPTER TWO ON LITERATURE REVIEW: MEANING, PURPOSE & SCOPE OF LITERATURE REVIEW

A strong literature review is the difference between research that can defend its conclusions and research that can’t: it builds the body of knowledge, positions a study within what already exists, and surfaces gaps that justify a new investigation. Far from being a “simple” chapter made by copying earlier work, a literature review requires systematic searching, locating, evaluating, and then critically comparing studies—so the researcher can show how their study will add something new, not just repeat what others have done.

Literature review is defined as the identification and summarizing of studies about a topic, alongside the systematic identification, location, and evaluation of materials containing information related to the research subject. The process must be relevant to the research problem and extensive enough to support the study’s intellectual foundation. That relevance starts with clarity: the researcher should be precise about the subject matter and research problem before beginning the review. Once the problem is defined, the literature review clarifies why the research is needed, helps readers judge the suitability of the planned research approaches, and demonstrates the researcher’s familiarity with existing knowledge.

The purpose of the literature review is multi-layered. It locates the study within the existing literature and explains how the new work is influenced by prior scholarship while also making clear where it diverges. It signals credibility by showing the researcher understands what others have written. It also helps justify methodological and theoretical choices—particularly the theories that anchor the study. Most importantly, it builds the body of knowledge by contrasting studies, identifying inadequacies, and pinpointing overlooked areas. The “voice” of the researcher matters: the review should not merely describe other researchers’ findings, but critically evaluate them in an objective way, highlighting limitations and explaining how the current study addresses those gaps.

Scope determines how deep and how broad the review should be, and there is no universal rule for the number of sources. Instead, scope depends on context and expectations: a PhD may require around 100 sources, a master’s project 40–50, and an undergraduate project 20–30, with the caveat that these figures are only guides. The literature should also be current for social science research—typically not older than 10 years unless dealing with classical works. Relevance to the problem is non-negotiable, and the studies reviewed must be clearly executed and reported so they can be assessed critically.

Other scope drivers include the research problem itself (including variables, indicators, and how many variables are being examined), institutional guidelines (such as required number of pages or whether a historical background is expected), and the characteristics of the studies being reviewed. Those characteristics include the closeness of the topic to the problem, study design, instruments and data collection methods, the population and sampling procedures, defined variables, and extraneous variables that could affect findings. As researchers review studies, they should track findings, design choices, and methodological limits—such as when prior work relies only on surveys while a new study plans a mixed-method approach to provide a more comprehensive and corroborated account of results.

The lesson ends by previewing that the next step is learning how to conduct the literature review systematically, after understanding its meaning, purpose, and scope.