Literature Review Assignment
For this assignment, you will write your literature review. You will use the information you provided in your Unit 4 – 5 Assignments (annotated
bibliography) to develop your literature review.
Your literature review, including the introduction, review of the literature, and summary, should be 7 – 10 pages. You may use the optional Unit 6
Assignment Template to complete this assignment.
You will need to follow the steps outlined below to complete your assignment. Reviewing the readings and tutorials will help to ensure you have the
information you need to be successful.
Be sure to include the following in your literature review:
Title page
An opening paragraph and thesis statement
Introduction/background section
Summary of the characteristics of the studies you reviewed
Summary of the research reviewed, synthesizing past research findings
Evaluation of the research reviewed
A summary section for the literature review with the hypothesis
Reference list
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Write the opening paragraph and thesis statement.
a. Write an opening paragraph for your paper.
b. Review the handout on writing thesis statements .
c. Add your thesis statement to the end of your opening paragraph.
d. Note: revisit your opening paragraph and thesis statement after completing the remainder of this assignment. Revise the paragraph and
thesis statement as needed to ensure it is consistent with the content and aims of your literature review.
2. Write your introduction section.
a. Review the “Introduction ” tutorial.
b. Write your introduction section (1 page) for your literature review. Be sure to address the following in your introduction:
i. Discuss the main problem or issue you are studying. Explain why the problem or issue is important. Be sure to provide supporting
details and evidence to support your main ideas.
ii. Define your main variables, citing reputable, academic sources.
iii. Describe your population of interest, including their demographic characteristics, the number of people in the population, and any other
characteristics that would be important for your readers to know. Describe how and in what ways the problem or issue affects your
population of interest.
iv. Explain how conducting more research would help address the problem or issue. Present your research question and explain how your
proposed study would contribute to the research topic.
3. Write your review of the literature sections.
a. Read “How to Synthesize: Determining What to Say about the Literature .”
b. Summarize the Characteristics of the Studies. Write one to two paragraphs summarizing the characteristics of the studies you reviewed.
Be sure to address the following in this paragraph(s):
i. State how many articles you included in your literature review.
ii. Summarize the characteristics of the studies in your literature review.
1. What populations were involved in the studies?
2. Summarize the research methods and designs across the studies (e.g., five studies involved survey research and five were case
studies).
3. What types of measures did the researchers use in the studies?
4. What types of interventions did the researchers use in the studies?
c. Review the Literature. Write the body of your literature review section.
i. First, organize your review of past research into two or more sections, using APA style section headings. There are multiple ways to
approach organizing your literature review, and it will depend on the nature of your topic and the research findings. One example you
read about in the chapter is organizing the articles according to similarities in the outcome variables (dependent variables) that the
researchers studied. For example, suppose you were studying the effects of Omega-3s supplements on mood in adolescents. You
might organize your literature review into section headings, such as “Omega-3s and Anxiety” and “Omega-3s and Pessimism,” etc. In
this example, “anxiety” and “pessimism” would represent outcome variables common to the studies you would synthesize under the
two-section headings.
ii. In each section, summarize the relevant research findings. Provide further analysis in each section. For example, you could compare
and contrast the findings across the research studies you review in each section.
d. Optional: consider adding an “Evidence Table” to your literature review. See p.104 of the reading for an example.
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4. Write your conclusions and hypothesis section.
This section provides a high-level summary of each journal article you reviewed in the literature review section.
a. Provide a summary of the major research findings you presented in the literature review, focusing on findings that support your hypothesis.
b. Provide an evaluation of the major strengths and limitations of the research you reviewed as a whole.
c. Present one or more high-level conclusions about the research in your topic area. Overall, what does the research literature tells us about
your topic? What questions still remain unanswered (i.e., your research question). These high-level conclusions should directly relate to
your research hypothesis and lead naturally into your hypothesis statement.
d. State your hypothesis.
i. Your hypothesis should flow naturally from the high-level conclusions you have made about the research in this area.
ii. Refer to your Unit 2 Assignment for your preliminary hypothesis, and update it as needed. You may also want to review the Unit 2
Reading: Choosing Your Research Question and Hypotheses
