Mastering synthetic writing is key to a successful literature review. Use these resources to learn how to analyze the articles you want to use for your literature review, keep track of common themes using an article analysis matrix, and how to convert the notes in the analysis matrix into a piece of synthetic writing.
Think of working on your literature review as a multi-step process:
A literature review is not the same as a research paper. The point of a literature review is to synthesize the research of others without making a new argument or scholarly contribution. A literature review is also not an annotated bibliography. You should not write about each study you are reviewing in turn, but instead write synthetically to highlight the current state of the literature.
Key Points to Consider:
Examine the model literature review below (pgs 378-380).
Ask the following questions as you read. Reflect on why the author made specific decisions in their writing.
Did the literature review...?
- big picture stuff -
- writing conventions -
- analysis/evaluation -
Create a matrix by listing the articles you want to analyze in the top row of the matrix, and the major themes in the far left column. You will then review each article to see what themes are covered in that article. Describe how the themes are discussed in each article. When you are done, you will be able to easily see which articles share common themes, and where there are gaps in the research regarding coverage of certain concepts.
Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Article 4 | Article 5 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online vs. Offline Participation | Subjects age 21-35 increase their social media use by 30% in the 6 months leading up to a federal election | Political discourse on social media platforms does not differ by age of the subject | Young people are more engaged in politics because of social media use | Traditional methods of political participation (ex: canvassing) made subjects feel more connected to a campaign or candidate | Subjects age 55+ were more likely to engage in political discourse on social media platforms than younger users |
Social media sites - Multiple | Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat | did not examine social media | |||
Social media sites - Individual | did not examine social media | ||||
Level of Government | federal | state | federal | federal | state and federal |
Activism | did not discuss | did not discuss | examined comments about issues, shares of political articles or videos (ex: primary debates), likes on campaign pages | examined canvassing, volunteering at polling centers, letter writing to legislators | examined comments about issues |
Trust in Government | 65% of young adults do not trust the government | did not discuss | 54% of young adults believe the government will abide by the will of the people | voters who feel more connected to a campaign, trust the government more than | 76% of voters age 55+ trust the government |
What does this example matrix tell you? What themes are well covered in the literature? Which are lacking? What do the different articles have in common?
It may be beneficial to add additional columns (for more articles) or additional rows (to include a place to record each study's research method, findings, or limitations). The more work you do on the front end, thoroughly analyzing various aspects of each article, the easier it will be to pull it all together in the end for your literature review.
The sites below offer a range of considerations and steps for writing the literature review.