Business & Finance Literature Review Fusion and Examining Assignment
Serenity3203
Chapter11forHtdylr.pptx
PowerPoint 11 Scribing, concluding and stopping
Chapter 11 from
How to do your literature review
This is PowerPoint 10 for Chapter 10 …
We will look at
The Conclusion to a literature review
The structure of a write-up
Writing
Flow and transitioning in the write-up
Referencing
Writing an abstract
Avoiding plagiarism
All of this is discussed in much more detail in Chapter 10 of How to Do Your Literature Review
The conclusion
The Conclusion is a reflection – a self-critical reflection – on your work.
It is not principally a summary.
The Abstract is the place for the summary.
What should be in a conclusion?
Summarise the main findings briefly.
Relate back to the introduction, where you set out the purpose of your literature review.
Chart the progress of any change in your questions as the project has progressed.
Acknowledge your literature review’s limitations.
Outline any recommendations.
Outline points for further review or research.
The structure of a write-up
| Introduction | Methods i.e. your methods: scoping, searching, structuring. Methods used for synthesis (if any) such as grounded theory | Body chapters (in a freestanding review) or Headings (in a review that is contributing to a wider research project), including discussion of methods used by researchers | Conclusion |
| probably around 5% of the total wordage | around 10% of total wordage | around 80% of total wordage | probably around 5% of the total wordage |
The structure of a write-up
An example of a literature review write-up based on house price inflation …
| Chapter headings | Subheadings | Secondary subheadings | |
| Introduction | Including prima facie research question | ||
| Methods used in the review | Keywords, databases and AI tools used. Changes made to the prima facie research question after brainstorming and/or mindmapping. Possible structures for the study (thematic, funnelled, chronological, comparison-based, mixed). | Mixed was chosen – reasons why | |
| Main substantive chapters | Causes | Supply and demand factors Interest rates General levels of income Speculation | Population growth; smaller households |
| Consequences | Wealth inequality Financial instability from excess borrowing | Intergenerational unfairness Non-affordability of housing for lower incomes | |
| Policy implications | Central banks’ interest rates Housing supply Macroprudential policies Affordable housing initiatives | Zoning reform; construction incentives | |
| Methodology adopted by researchers across the topic | Different data sources and what they can tell us Forms of research | Sales records; demographic data Econometric models; time series analysis; qualitative research | |
| Conclusion |
The structure of a write-up
Proportions of words in the write-up example
Introduction Methods used in the review Causes of house price inflation Consequences Policy implications Methodology adopted by researchers Conclusion 5 10 20 20 20 20 5
Writing
Writing is about communicating; it is not about trying to sound clever
Remember the reader
Hear it in your head
George Orwell’s advice:
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Flow and transitioning when writing
Flow is really important to the meaningfulness of writing. It’s important in showing that you understand how ideas are connected. Help your writing flow with transitioning words.
Transitioning words and phrases
| Function | Transitioning words and phrases |
| Adding | again, also, and, another, as a result, as well as, at the same time, both, further, furthermore, in addition, in the same way, likewise, moreover, not only but also, similarly, too |
| Contrasting | although, at least, but, even though, in spite of, of course, still, contrarily, conversely, however, by contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, nor, notwithstanding this, on one hand- on the other hand, on the contrary, or, rather, whereas, while, yet |
| Detailing | in fact, in other words, especially, including, in particular, namely, specifically, to enumerate |
| Exemplifying | for example, for instance, in other words, to illustrate |
| Likening | analogous to, likewise, similarly |
| Resulting | accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, due to, for this reason, hence, resultingly, since, so, then, therefore, thus |
| Stressing | above all, again, also, certainly, indeed, in fact, of course, surely |
| Subtracting | besides, however, otherwise, notwithstanding |
| Suggesting | therefore, to this end, with this in mind |
| Summarising | accordingly, finally, in brief, in conclusion, in short, in summary |
| Timing | after, at first, at the same time, before, concurrently, eventually, finally, first-second-etc., formerly, immediately, in the meantime, last, later, meanwhile, next, once, ordinarily, previously, rarely, simultaneously, soon, subsequently, then, to begin with, usually, while |
Referencing
Use the system specified by your university department. There will be a page on your university website that explains referencing systems. The main ones are:
APA (American Psychological Association) – a citation in the text consists of the author(s) and the year of publication. All other details about the publication are given in the list of references at the end.
Chicago – a cited reference in the text, a corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page and a list of references at the end of the work.
Harvard – almost the same as APA; some very minor differences.
MLA (Modern Language Association) – a brief in-text citation and a list of ‘Works Cited’ at the end.
Vancouver – a reference number in the text wherever a source is cited which corresponds to an entry in the reference list at the end, comprising a numbered list of all the sources cited.
My university library’s advice on using referencing (open to everyone) is at www.i-cite.bham.ac.uk/
Writing an abstract
At the end of your literature review, you can write your abstract – though it will be placed right at the beginning, on the first page after the title but before the contents page.
Your abstract should be between 100 to 200 words – there will probably be guidance from your university department on the preferred length.
This is the place for the summary of your literature review: it should be a summary of the topic you reviewed, the methods you used, your findings and conclusions.
Plagiarism
In a literature review, where you are routinely working with the words of others, it’s only too easy to fall prey to plagiarism.
Whenever you quote someone else’s words you must always make full and clear attribution to the author in question.
Although quotations (that is, the verbatim use of an author’s own words in quotation marks) are perfectly acceptable, you should avoid overdoing them. Generally, one short quotation per page is the maximum.
Summary
The Chapter or section headings for the final write-up will include:
Introduction
Methods used (i.e. by you)
Findings chapters (probably several, relating to the main substantive topics covered in the review, and possibly including a chapter for integrative discussion)
Methods used (i.e. by researchers in the field)
Conclusion.
Plan out the amount of space you need to devote to each aspect of your work, including the methods you have used in conducting your review, the methods used by researchers and the main findings that you need to integrate and discuss.
The Conclusion chapter or section is important as a reflection on your work and whether it has met your aims. Although an element of summary is involved, it’s more important that you look back to the questions you have asked and reflect on your success, or otherwise, in answering them.
The Conclusion should also outline any weaknesses in your work, and highlight any parts that, on reflection, you think you should have done differently.
It will also point out gaps or weaknesses in the corpus of literature on your subject, and may suggest areas where further research is necessary.
Try to write as straightforwardly as possible, avoiding jargon where possible and paying special attention to the flow of the writing, ensuring that parts are connected with appropriate words and phrases.
Ensure that you use the appropriate referencing system specified by your university department.
Take great care to avoid plagiarism.
Activity
Elicit.com found a range of articles for me relevant to a question (on political leadership). It offered this ‘Summary of the top 4 papers’:
The papers provide evidence that the quality of political leaders may be declining. Pakulski 2015 argues that changing recruitment patterns and career profiles of Australian federal MPs have reduced the quality of the parliamentary elite. Peveri 2021 finds that the quality of governance varies depending on the career and education of national leaders, with military leaders associated with a decrease in quality. Čulík 2018 discusses the perception of low-quality politicians in various countries, including the Czech Republic and the USA. Campus 2013 highlights the general decline in trust towards political institutions and the erosion of political support in Western democracies. These findings collectively suggest that there are concerns about the declining quality of political leaders.
Critique this summary in terms of flow and transitioning. How could it be improved?
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