Anatomy of a Literature Review

Organization of scholarship

Writers may organize the existing scholarship in several ways: historically (i.e., evolution of thought on the topic), geographically (i.e., research hotspots/regions/institutions), methodologically (i.e., interview data, survey data, quantitative data, etc.), theoretically (i.e., dominant "schools of thought," most popular explanations), by level of analysis (i.e., macro-, meso-, micro-level data), and so on.

Scholars often organize the extant literature in ways that anticipate their own contribution. 

If, for example, a work introduces a new method of observation, then its authors are likely to organize the existing literature according to the methods that previous scholars applied.

If a work introduces a new theory or applies an existing theory in a new way, then its authors will organize the literature according to the theories that previous writers employed.

In short, the literature review highlights a discrete problem that the authors' research solves or at least addresses.

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