Attached to this page is an example Outline w/ Introduction to give you an idea of how you might use this assignment to prepare yourself to write the Literature Review. Below are more detailed instructions on writing the introduction paragraph(s).
READ the attached example Outline w/ Literature Review
READ the instructions for writing an Introduction below
We are starting with the Introduction because this is where you clarify your research topic, where you outline your approach to the review, and where you persuade the reader that your research is important to the field (not in general).
How this assignment is different than all other research-based assignments you’ve most likely done:
1. Audience.
Your audience for the Literature Review is other experts in your discipline. What does this mean? This means that you do not have to persuade the reader that your general topic is important, but that a specific approach to it might be. For instance, if my discipline is hospitality, I don’t need to persuade my fellow hospitality scholars that customer service is important. BUT I might have to persuade them that looking into eco-friendly hospitality policies is a new angle on customer service that they should know about (and potentially continue researching).
2. Purpose.
In other research papers, you might have had to defend a specific position with research. That is not the case here. Literature Reviews do not have a “thesis” in the traditional sense. Rather, your purpose is to inform fellow experts on some new/different/exciting/troubling/etc. body of research on a particular aspect of a topic that matters to the field. I read Literature Reviews as part of my academic role because I don’t have time to read every single article that gets published in my field, so reviews are helpful in that they give me a snapshot of new concepts, new data, new research methods OR problems with old concepts/data/methods.
As you have read in the assignment handout, the basic structure for a Literature Review is:
- Introduction (focusing on the field, the topic, and context – persuasive)
- Body (showcasing all the research pertaining to the topic you chose – narrative)
- Conclusion (summing up the field’s current approach to the topic & pitching new ideas/data/methods for the research – persuasive)
We are now focusing on the Introduction section.
For your Introduction, consider how you might entice fellow experts to continue reading about all the research that you’ve gathered.
1. How does this specific sub-topic interest your field as a whole?
2. What facts/stats/stories might you include to establish context for the research that follows?
3. What work will your review do?
For #1 you might discuss how the rise of a new technology has changed the field of study (e.g. smartphones have profoundly affected those researchers who focus on studying screen time which, of course, used to focus more on T.V. and computers); you might discuss how access to new datasets is going to affect some (or many) aspects of your field (e.g. when archives open to researchers that were previously private). The point, is that you need to make it clear how the topic you picked is going to affect the wider field and explain why other experts should sit up and pay attention.
#2 is linked to #1, of course. The goal here might be to provide context for the reader. Even though your audience is a fellow expert, they are reading this to learn. You might need to provide statistics, facts, or stories to contextualize all the research that follows. In the smartphone example, it might be prudent to include the percentage of people who own a smartphone and known rates of use. You can also use this section to clarify the parameters of your research interest. Are you only looking at smartphone use in the USA? Or globally? Are you only looking at research on this new medical procedure for children or for all ages? If you are reviewing old literature, how far back are you going? Etc.
#3 is where you explain what your review will do. In other words, this is where you explain what organizing method you used for the review as well as the intended structure for the review. Use the information in Lesson 2: Organizing Sources as a guide for this part of the Introduction.
topic :
What Are The Effects Of Social Media Use On The Mental Health Of Young Adults And What Are The Potential Interventions To Mitigate These Effects?
I already made a draft so you just have to follow the instructions and format and make the outline draft with an introduction . below I attached my draft which you will work on and also an example one where you get the idea of how I want this to be done.