Anatomy of a Literature Review

Justification/Significance

After (very briefly) introducing their subject, the authors defend the work's significance. Put differently, they seek to address the following questions as soon as possible: Why does this thing matter? Why should the reader care about this?

As we will see, this article attempts to explain habitual attendance at the Italian theater.

But note how they frame this research topic at the outset of their article: this work, the authors argue, concerns "cultural participation" and maintenance of "cultural identity."

In other words, the authors acknowledge that readers may care little about the relatively niche topic of attendance at the Italian theater. There may be little interest in this topic, even among professional economists.

They argue instead that the work examines more significant and broadly relevant phenomena (e.g., cultural identity) through the "case" of Italian theater attendance.

Scholars always seek to frame their otherwise narrow interests in ways that resonate with a broader audience and reinforce the value of their research.

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