How to Write a Literature Review in 30 Minutes or Less

Summary

This presentation outlines a streamlined process for crafting a literature review in under 30 minutes. It clarifies misconceptions about the value of literature reviews, emphasizing their practicality in real-world scenarios like decision-making in a HR management role. The speaker guides viewers through five steps: separating citations from summaries, organizing summaries logically, combining related summaries, adding topic sentences and transitions, and finally, constructing an introduction with a thesis and a conclusion. The script illustrates how literature reviews gather essential background information, making one an expert on the subject.

Takeaways

• 📚 A literature review is a critical step in academic research that involves summarizing and synthesizing existing research on a specific topic.
• ⏱️ The script promises a method to draft a literature review in 30 minutes or less by following a structured approach.
• 🤔 The script addresses common questions about the purpose and relevance of literature reviews, emphasizing their practical application beyond academic settings.
• 🎓 It uses a scenario involving a Human Resources management graduate to illustrate how literature reviews can inform real-world decisions in a professional context.
• 🔍 The process of a literature review involves five key steps: separating summaries from citations, reordering summaries, combining related summaries, adding topic sentences and transitions, and finally, writing an introduction and conclusion.
• 📝 Step one involves creating two lists from research: one of citations and another of paragraph summaries from the sources.
• 🔄 Step two is about reordering the paragraph summaries into a logical sequence that reflects the relationships among the sources.
• 🔐 Step three focuses on deciding which summaries should be standalone paragraphs and which can be combined based on their relationship and length.
• 📈 In step four, topic sentences and transitions are added to transform summary paragraphs into cohesive body paragraphs.
• 📖 The final step, step five, involves adding an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement and a conclusion paragraph to frame the literature review.
• 🏷️ The script suggests using subtitles in the literature review to organize major sections and to reinforce the thesis in the conclusion.

Q & A

What is the main promise of the presenter regarding the literature review?

The presenter promises that if the audience has done thorough research and summarized their sources, they can write the rough draft of a literature review in 30 minutes or less by following the steps provided.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources that have been researched, with each source accompanied by a summary and an evaluation of the information extracted from them.

Why are literature reviews important in a real-world context?

Literature reviews are important because they help gather background information and answer real questions before making decisions or writing reports, as illustrated by the example of a Human Resources manager needing to decide on cultural diversity training.

What are the five easy steps to writing a literature review according to the script?

The five steps are: 1) Separate the paragraph summaries from the citations, 2) Reorder the paragraphs in a logical order, 3) Combine summaries where appropriate, 4) Add topic sentences and transitions, and 5) Include an introduction with a thesis and a conclusion.

How should the citations be used in the literature review?

The citations should be saved for the reference page and used to introduce each paragraph summary in the literature review.

What is the significance of the problem-solution pattern in organizing the literature review?

The problem-solution pattern helps impose a clear organizational structure on the summaries, making it easier for the reader to follow the progression from identifying issues to discussing potential solutions.

Why is it important to limit the length of body paragraphs in a literature review?

Limiting the length of body paragraphs to 10 to 14 lines ensures that each paragraph focuses on a specific point and maintains readability and coherence.

What role do topic sentences play in the literature review?

Topic sentences introduce the main idea of each paragraph, providing a clear focus and guiding the reader through the discussion of sources.

How should the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of a literature review be structured?

The introduction should contain a thesis statement that summarizes the major points, while the conclusion can restate the thesis and comment on gaps or flaws in the reviewed research.

What is the purpose of subtitles in a literature review?

Subtitles help organize the literature review into clear sections, making it easier for the reader to navigate and understand the progression of ideas.

Why is the literature review considered a preliminary step in research?

The literature review is a preliminary step because it provides the necessary background knowledge to become an expert on the topic, which is essential for writing a thesis, argumentative report, or presentation.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Literature Review

The paragraph introduces the concept of a literature review and its importance in academic and professional settings. It emphasizes that a literature review is not just an academic assignment but a valuable tool for gathering and summarizing information from various sources to inform decision-making. The speaker assures the audience that following the steps outlined will enable them to draft a literature review in under 30 minutes. The scenario of a Human Resources manager tasked with recommending a cultural diversity training program at a company is used to illustrate the practical application of a literature review.

05:01

📝 Organizing Research for Literature Review

This section outlines the process of organizing research for a literature review. It explains how to separate citations from the summaries of the sources, suggesting that the citations will be used for the reference page and the summaries will form the body of the literature review. The paragraph also highlights the importance of using in-text citations and referencing the source throughout the summaries to maintain academic integrity. It introduces the concept of reordering the summaries into a logical sequence based on their content, using the problem-solution pattern as an example.

10:01

🔄 Combining and Structuring Summaries

The paragraph discusses the process of deciding which summaries should stand alone as body paragraphs and which can be combined based on their relationship and length. It provides an example of how to group summaries that discuss worldwide problems and cultural differences, leading to the need for diversity training. The paragraph also explains how to create a smooth narrative by adding topic sentences and transitions between summaries, ensuring a coherent flow in the literature review.

15:03

📖 Finalizing the Literature Review

This section describes the final steps in creating a literature review, including adding an introduction with a thesis statement and a conclusion paragraph. It emphasizes that the thesis should reflect the problem-solution pattern observed in the body paragraphs. The paragraph also suggests strategies for writing the conclusion, such as restating the thesis and commenting on gaps in the research. The importance of a descriptive title and subtitles for each section of the literature review is highlighted to aid organization and reinforce the thesis.

🏁 Wrapping Up the Literature Review Process

The final paragraph summarizes the five steps of creating a literature review and reiterates that the literature review is a preliminary step to gather background knowledge and become an expert on the topic. It reminds the audience that the literature review is essential for writing a thesis, argumentative report, or presentation with confidence and expertise.

Keywords

💡Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents, a brief paragraph in which includes a summary and/or evaluation of each source. In the context of the video, it represents the preliminary work done before writing a literature review. The script mentions that if you've extracted information, summarized sources, and created an alphabetical list of source citations, you've created an annotated bibliography, which is a precursor to a literature review.

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous research on a topic. The video emphasizes that a literature review is not just an academic assignment but a practical tool for gathering information to inform decisions. It is used in the script to illustrate the process of researching cultural diversity training in a workplace setting.

💡Cultural Diversity Training

Cultural diversity training refers to educational programs designed to help individuals understand and appreciate the cultural differences in a diverse work environment. The script uses this term in a hypothetical scenario where a new employee must decide if their company should implement such a program, highlighting its importance in human resources management.

💡Source Citations

Source citations are references that give credit to the original authors of the information used in a research paper or essay. The script explains that these citations are essential for academic integrity and for allowing others to verify the information presented in a literature review.

💡Research

Research, in this context, refers to the systematic investigation and study of materials to establish facts and reach new conclusions. The script describes how research is conducted to gather information for a literature review, emphasizing the importance of thorough research before making recommendations.

💡Problem-Solution Pattern

The problem-solution pattern is a common organizational structure in writing where the author first identifies a problem and then discusses potential solutions. The script uses this pattern to organize the literature review, starting with descriptions of the problem of cultural diversity in the workplace and then moving on to strategies or solutions.

💡APA Style

APA Style refers to the set of formatting and citation rules from the American Psychological Association. The script mentions APA style in relation to how citations are formatted within the summaries, with the author's last name and year of publication in parentheses.

💡Topic Sentences

Topic sentences are the main sentence in a paragraph that states the main idea or purpose of that paragraph. The script advises adding topic sentences to the summaries to transform them into full paragraphs, providing an example of how a topic sentence introduces the main idea that will be discussed.

💡Transitions

Transitions are words or phrases that connect one idea to another, creating a smooth flow in writing. The script explains the importance of adding transitions between summaries within a paragraph to ensure a logical and coherent narrative in the literature review.

💡Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a one- or two-sentence summary of the main point or argument of a research paper. In the script, the thesis statement for the literature review is described as bringing together the major points discussed by the sources and signaling to the reader that they will be reading a literature review, not the author's individual claims.

💡Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion paragraph summarizes the main points of a text and often provides a final perspective on the topic. The script suggests that the conclusion of a literature review should restate the thesis and comment on any gaps or flaws in the research reviewed, providing an example of a descriptive subtitle for the conclusion.

Highlights

The presentation promises to teach how to write a literature review in under 30 minutes.

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources with summaries and citations.

A literature review is essential for gathering background information before making a decision or writing a report.

The importance of literature reviews is illustrated with a real-world scenario involving cultural diversity training in a company.

Experts have already answered many questions, and a literature review helps find those answers.

The five easy steps to writing a literature review are outlined.

Step one involves separating citations from paragraph summaries.

In step two, reorder the paragraphs into a logical order based on connections found among them.

Step three is about deciding which summaries should stand alone and which can be combined.

Adding topic sentences and transitions turns summary paragraphs into real paragraphs in step four.

The literature review gets an introduction with a thesis and a conclusion in step five.

The thesis statement should reflect the organizational pattern of the literature review.

The conclusion can comment on gaps or flaws in the research reviewed.

A literature review is a preliminary step to gather background knowledge and become an expert on a topic.

The presentation concludes with a reminder of the practical applications of a literature review.

Transcripts

[Music]

hi everyone and welcome one thing that I

promise you today is that this

presentation is going to last less than

30 minutes but I also promise you that

if you've already done good research

you've read all of your sources that you

need to on this topic you have extracted

information from them and otherwise

summarized the sources and written them

up and your summary are and those Source

citations are now on a nice alphabetical

list if you've done that what is called

annotated bibliography and you're ready

to start on this literature review I

guarantee you that if you follow these

steps I'm about to give you you can

write the rough draft of this literature

review in 30 minutes or

less but first a couple of questions

question number one what the heck is a

literature review or the bleep is a

literature review second

question why the bleep should I care

what a literature review is you know it

seems like we've got these stodgy

professors out there who kind of Revel

in the fact that they like to give these

academic sounding assignments that

really have no validity in the real

world and the literature review seems to

be one of those examples but you know

what nothing could be further from the

truth and let me show you why let's say

that you just graduated with a BS degree

in Human Resources management

congratulations on that GPA by the way

3.83 and also congratulations on having

landed your first job as an

administrative manager at caliber

systems a firm with over 1,800 employees

You' definitely got room for advancement

there so everything's looking great

right now one day your supervisor comes

back from a meeting in the sea suite and

has a little assignment for you here's

the assignment should caliber systems

Institute a cultural diversity training

program if so what should that program

consist of your report which is due in

the form of a presentation in two

weeks is going to determine the future

of your job and your career at caliber

systems okay hot shot what's your next

move your next move is to go find some

answers to some very real questions

those questions being what is cultural

diversity training is it something

that's gaining Acceptance in this Human

Resources world or is it considered a

waste of money another question what are

the various types of cultural diversity

training offered today especially in

companies of my size caliber systems and

in my sector it

consultancy third question what have

been the impacts both positive and

negative of cultural diversity training

on companies in other words before you

make a recommendation you've got to have

answers to those questions guess what I

got some good news for you the experts

have already answered all those

questions before you there are people

who get paid to answer questions like

those and publish their results all you

need to do is go find those

answers the answers that you

find in the published results are called

the

literature and whenever you go and look

for them that's called a review or

looking for them OMG a literature review

You've got to write one for your

job as a human resour resources manager

in an IT company that's

right in more good news you can do that

literature review in five easy steps so

here's the takeaway a literature review

is not something that sty professors

assign just because they like to torture

you literature reviews whatever you want

to call them are important ways to

gather background information before you

make a decision before you write up your

report now let's take a look at those

five easy steps and once you know them

and you've seen them Illustrated I

guarantee you that you're going to be

able to write this literature review in

30 minutes or less when you do

background research you record the

source of the information to allow

others to validate what you say along

with the details of what you found so

after completing your research you'll

have a list that looks something like

this for the purposes of demonstration

we're showing only the first three items

from a much longer list in step one

you're going to strip this list into two

parts one the citations by themselves

two the paragraphs containing

information from the sources the list of

citations will look like this the list

of paragraphs will look like this save

the list of references and use use it as

the last page of your literature review

we'll use the paragraphs as the body of

your literature review let's note three

important things about these summary

paragraphs first each paragraph at its

beginning contains an Intex citation to

its source because we're using APA style

the Intex citation consists of the

author's last name plus the year of

publication in

parenthesis the author's last name is

outside of the parentheses because the

name is being used as a noun in the

sentence second note that the sentences

in the paragraph find a way to refer

back to the source so that the reader

knows the information is from the source

and not your own thoughts some examples

are the author's present and the

article then there's repetition of the

author's name in the second paragraph

for solely is repeated four times

finally notice that the year of

publication only has to be repeated once

per

paragraph Okay congratulations on

completing step one you've taken your

basic research and produced two lists a

list of citations and a list of

paragraphs now your task in step two is

to reorder the paragraphs to do this

carefully reread them as you do find

similarities and differences that will

allow you to reorganize the paragraphs

in a logical order based on the

connections you find among them during

this step keep in mind there will be no

one universally correct sequence the

best sequence is the one that you find

and apply effectively for example in our

first paragraph The annotation says the

author's study

storytelling as a way to increase

Communication in a culturally diverse

workplace so this source is presenting a

strategy or a solution for a problem

let's label it

solution next is a 1996 article by fine

that calls cultural diversity in the US

workplace quote perhaps the most

pressing challenge of our Times

Obviously we'll label this paragraph a

description of the

problem next frisoli describes

interviews with a West African man that

were hindered because the two men had

different attitudes toward technology

and

communication fori underscores the need

for flexibility and understanding and

accepting how someone can be culturally

different so let's label this one

problem plus need for

understanding so a clear pattern is

starting to emerge sources that we're

finding on this topic describe either

the problem or solutions to the problem

thus to complete step two we will

rearrange the summaries according to

this problem solution pattern that we're

seeing here are seven of the summaries

rearranged now a real lit review would

have far more sources in order to be

thorough but in any case we've imposed a

clear organizational pattern on our

summaries our next step step three you

decide which summaries should stand

alone as a body paragraph and which

could be combined your decision will be

based on two factors Factor one how

closely related the summaries are the

closer their relationship the more

reason you have to combine them Factor

two is their length try to limit your

body paragraphs to 10 to 14 lines the

fine article can stand alone as a body

paragraph because it offers an overview

of the problem that dates back to the

previous Century the next three sources

each studied a different group of

culturally diverse workers and concluded

the same thing but the three summaries

together are too long for a single

paragraph So the first two can be

grouped on the basis of

geography a man in West Africa and

non-native work ERS in Australia thus

presenting a worldwide problem the

Sweeney in zoo study brings us back to

the US and is long enough and important

enough to Merit its own paragraph all

three studies now combined into two

paragraphs are tied together by one

theme Mastery of language by itself is

not enough preparedness to deal with

cultural differences is also necessary

this need to be prepared provides a

natural transition to the last three

summaries that all discuss

Solutions so the body of this literature

review will have five paragraphs one the

first body paragraph will set the stage

by defining the problem the second body

paragraph will show that the problem is

worldwide and requires preparing workers

to deal with cultural differences in

communication the Third body paragraph

brings the problem home to the US and

reinforces the need for workers to be

sensitive to cultural differences the

fourth body paragraph presents two minor

solutions to the problem and the fifth

body paragraph presents an overarching

solution diversity training that can

apply to virtually any

organization the order and combination

of the paragraphs are set and now we're

ready for step four which is all of

about turning the summary paragraphs

into real paragraphs by adding topic

sentences and transitions here's an

example of a plain summary paragraph As

we wrote it down after research now here

is the same paragraph with a topic

sentence and transition added let's

compare them the topic sentence cultural

diversity has long been recognized as a

potential problem in the workplace it

introduces the topic that will be

discussed by the source that comes next

but a transition phrase as far back as

1996 fine stated links the topic

sentence and the source together with

the concept of

time when there's more than one source

in a paragraph a new sentence or thought

Bridge must sometimes be added between

them for example here are two summary

paragraphs that we want to combine into

one we first add a topic sentence for

the two summaries both study

geographically dispersed cultures next

for Sol's findings are presented then a

thought Bridge sentence is added to lead

to the second summary and blend them

both into a smooth flowing narrative as

you see at the end of step four you

should have a series of body paragraphs

that consist of strong topic sentences

followed by Source summaries and then

transitions from One summary to the next

this review is looking really excellent

now it's ready for step five in step

five the body of the literature review

gets an introduction paragraph with

thesis and a conclusion paragraph

because a literature review summarizes

the published works of others the thesis

statement should bring together the

major points discussed by the sources

and a phrase such as the the following

review of literature signals to the

readers that they will be reading a

literature review not your the author's

individual claims arguments or

opinions note that the thesis statement

for the lit review also reflects the

problem solution organizational pattern

of the paragraphs to follow one common

strategy for the conclusion paragraph is

to open with a restatement of the thesis

which brings the reader back to the

overall point another common strategy

for the conclusion is to comment on any

gaps or flaws in the research reviewed

of course no literature review would be

complete without a title and now is the

perfect time to write it because we now

know everything that is in our lit

review cultural diversity in the

workplace overcoming barriers to

communication definitely does the job as

a further Aid to organization

don't forget to add subtitles between

the major sections of your lit review

after the introduction of our sample lit

review come the paragraphs that discuss

the problem so our first body section

subtitle is defining the problem the

next major section presents Solutions so

its subtitle is searching for

Solutions when it comes to the

conclusion don't waste an opportunity to

provide a specific subtitle that helps

to reinforce your thesis instead of just

using the neutral word conclusion note

how descriptive this subtitle for the

conclusion paragraph is preparing for

tomorrow

today that takes care of step five and

now you have a solid well organized lit

review okay there they are the five easy

steps it probably takes about as long to

explain them and illustrate them than it

would be to actually do them let's

review them quickly step number one

separate those paragraph summaries from

the citations save the citations for

your reference page and then you're

going to turn those paragraph summaries

into your literature review and in doing

that the first thing you're going to do

is to rearrange those paragraph

summaries in a logical order that

presents itself to you as you reread

them and the third step is then to

combine whatever summaries need to be

combined and then the fourth step is to

add in those really important topic

sentences and transitions so that they

read together smoothly and then add your

introduction and conclusion paragraphs

and you've got yourself a literature

review one last thing I want you to keep

in mind about a literature review is

that the literature review is only a

preliminary step in other words it's

something that you do to gather

background knowledge to kind of bring

yourself up to date to the

state-ofthe-art so that you know exactly

what has gone on before and what's

taking place right now you're the expert

so you use the literature review to make

yourself the expert on that topic and

once you've got all that background

knowledge then you can write about it

then you can write your thesis then you

can write your argumentative report then

you can pre do your presentation because

you have made yourself an expert via the

literature review okay thanks very much

for watching the presentation and I wish

you the very best of luck on your

literature review