Completing a dissertation topic
Book: Roberts, C. M., & Hyatt, L. (2019). The dissertation journey: A practical guide to planning, writing, and defending your dissertation (3rd ed.). Corwin Publishing Co. ISBN- 9781506373331. Read Chapters 6 & 9.
Since a critical step in preparing to complete a dissertation topic for research begins by having a good understanding of the most current, supportive literature, the literature review is usually found at the beginning of a dissertation and then is referred to throughout the rest of the writings.
There are many steps in accurately preparing and writing a literature review. The eight steps listed by the required reading reflect upon the two steps you feel are the most important in such review’s success.
Select two additional steps and explain why these are also key parts of the literature review process. Use information from your readings to support your selection, along with providing some examples of how this would be seen by both the researcher and the reader.
Sample Answer
The literature review is an important part of any research project, and it is especially important for dissertations. The literature review should provide an overview of the existing research on the topic, and it should help to justify the need for the researcher’s own study.
The eight steps for conducting a literature review are as follows:
- Identify the research problem. What is the topic of your research? What are you trying to find out?
- Conduct a preliminary search. This will help you to identify the key terms and concepts related to your research problem.
- Develop a search strategy. This will help you to find the most relevant literature.
- Collect the literature. This includes articles, books, reports, and other sources.
- Read and summarize the literature. This will help you to understand the key points of each source.