Synthesizing the Literature Review
Topic 4: Literature Review
As you build your body of literature, you will find that three, four, or more articles are saying the same thing or, based on the findings of their study, have come to the same conclusion. Rather than you writing about each and every article as related to one component of your study, you should synthesize the findings where appropriate.
This doesn't mean that once you've written about an article in one section of your Literature Review you can't use it again—you might find that a handful of articles appear throughout. It does mean that where possible, you should help the reader along by condensing and synthesizing literature that has commonalities. Remember, the reason you include a References page is so that the reader of your dissertation can look up articles you've cited if he or she wants to read more about it. In the case of synthesis, you are making the conscious decision to group articles around a common finding or idea.
As you draft your Short Literature Reviews, look for opportunities to synthesize your findings.
This doesn't mean that once you've written about an article in one section of your Literature Review you can't use it again—you might find that a handful of articles appear throughout. It does mean that where possible, you should help the reader along by condensing and synthesizing literature that has commonalities. Remember, the reason you include a References page is so that the reader of your dissertation can look up articles you've cited if he or she wants to read more about it. In the case of synthesis, you are making the conscious decision to group articles around a common finding or idea.
As you draft your Short Literature Reviews, look for opportunities to synthesize your findings.
Please review the Do's and Don'ts and the Analyzing vs. Narrating videos from the Framing course before writing your synthesis.
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