Product Description

`This book can provide an excellent framework for bolstering what is often an experiential process - doing a literature review. It is best seen alongside the supervisor, as a guide, through the multidimensional sea of academic literature' - British Educational Research Journal

`I have been waiting for this book for five years. It sets out a number of important dimensions involved in the process of literature review and by clear signposting, diagrams, and examples will help the student to carry out her or his review more systematically. Learning how to carry out a literature review has always entailed the experiential. While this is a the best way of learning, it is only so providing that learning actually takes place during the experience (or by reflection afterwards). This book makes explicit those dimensions which could remain implicit or even missed by the student as they wade through all those books, papers, articles, and print-outs' - Kevin Maguire, Nottingham Trent University

Reviewing the literature for a research project can seem a daunting, even overwhelming task. New researchers, in particular, wonder: Where do I start? What do I do? How do I do it? This text offers students across the social sciences and humanities a practical and comprehensive guide to writing a literature review. Chris Hart offers invaluable advice on how to: search out existing knowledge on a topic; analyze arguments and ideas; map ideas, arguments and perspectives; produce a literature review; and construct a case for investigating a topic.

The book contains examples of how to cite references, structure a research proposal and present a Master's thesis. It is published as a Set Book for The Open University Postgraduate Foundation Module (D820) The Challenge of the Social Sciences.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7646 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 230 pages

Synopsis
'This book can provide an excellent framework for bolstering what is often an experiential process - doing a literature review. It is best seen alongside the supervisor, as a guide, through the multidimensional sea of academic literature' - British Educational Research Journal 'I have been waiting for this book for five years. It sets out a number of important dimensions involved in the process of literature review and by clear signposting, diagrams, and examples will help the student to carry out her or his review more systematically. Learning how to carry out a literature review has always entailed the experiential. While this is a the best way of learning, it is only so providing that learning actually takes place during the experience (or by reflection afterwards). This book makes explicit those dimensions which could remain implicit or even missed by the student as they wade through all those books, papers, articles, and print-outs' - Kevin Maguire, Nottingham Trent University Reviewing the literature for a research project can seem a daunting, even overwhelming task. New researchers, in particular, wonder: Where do I start? What do I do? How do I do it?This text offers students across the social sciences and humanities a practical and comprehensive guide to writing a literature review.

Chris Hart offers invaluable advice on how to: search out existing knowledge on a topic; analyze arguments and ideas; map ideas, arguments and perspectives; produce a literature review; and construct a case for investigating a topic. The book contains examples of how to cite references, structure a research proposal and present a Master's thesis. It is published as a Set Book for The Open University Postgraduate Foundation Module (D820) The Challenge of the Social Sciences.

Customer Reviews

Doing your head in: releasing the aggression after trying to read this.
I decided to buy this book having read all the fantastic reviews on here, but was sorely disappointed. I am in the process of writing a postgrad literature review for my CIPD and have to say, this book was absolutely no help whatsoever. Maybe it works for academics, but for business students, I would avoid this like the plague. If you're after a book that gives you practical hints on how to get started with your literature review, don't buy this. I found the content and writing style to be largely theoretical and abstract, which made it difficult to follow or glean any quick pointers from. Having trawled through the whole sorry dirge I was left none the wiser by the end of the book and found much more useful and practical tips online.

A brilliant book on writing a research project literature review!
I used Chris Hart's book as a postgraduate student and I was more than satisfied to say the least. After reading the book I was able to advise my classmates as to how to write a good literature review.

There are a lot of interesting illustrations which thoroughly explain the process of prior research than needs to be done and then how it's all combined and written up as a document i.e. a literature review.

Moreover, the most important elements that are described within the book are the types of research available to the researcher, the goals of a research, the issues of different types of research, the different ways of argumentation, how to cite references, a checklist of do's and don'ts.

I recommend Hart's book to every postgraduate student bound to a literature review write-up and academics in general.

Excellent!
A brilliant book written in such a wonderful, transparent and
understandable style. A real gem that is best in its class. Excellent reference when judging graduate and post-graduate thesis works. Recommended warmly!