How to Write a Literature Review in 30 Minutes or Less
Summary
TLDRThe speaker explains what a literature review is - gathering background research to become an expert on a topic before making a recommendation or decision. Using an HR manager needing to advise on diversity training as an example, the speaker outlines the 5 steps to easily write a literature review in 30 minutes: 1) Separate paragraph summaries from citations; 2) Reorder summaries logically based on connections; 3) Combine related summaries into body paragraphs; 4) Add topic sentences and transitions to form a narrative; 5) Write an introduction, conclusion and subtitles to organize.
Takeaways
- 😀 A literature review gathers background information before making a decision or writing a report
- 📚 It summarizes what experts have already published on a topic
- 📝 It puts you in an expert position on the topic before writing your own thesis or report
- 🔍 The 5 easy steps: Separate summaries from citations, Reorder summaries logically, Combine related summaries, Add topic sentences and transitions, Add intro and conclusion
- 📋 Start with a list of annotated source citations and summary paragraphs for each
- ➿ Reorder and combine the summary paragraphs based on themes and relationships you identify
- 📰 Turn summary paragraphs into body paragraphs with topic sentences and transitions
- 📑 Bring it all together in the intro and conclusion tied to a central thesis statement
- ⏳ Following these steps, you can write a literature review draft in 30 minutes or less
- 🤓 The literature review makes you an expert on a topic before writing your own original work
Q & A
What are the two key questions raised at the beginning about literature reviews?
-The two key questions are: 1) What is a literature review? and 2) Why should I care about literature reviews?
How can literature reviews be applied in a real-world business scenario?
-The example of deciding whether to implement a cultural diversity training program illustrates how literature reviews are important for gathering background information to make an informed decision before writing a report or presentation.
What are the 5 easy steps outlined for writing a literature review?
-The 5 steps are: 1) Separate citations from summaries 2) Reorder paragraphs logically 3) Combine related summaries 4) Add topic sentences and transitions 5) Write introduction and conclusion
What are some key elements to include in the body paragraphs?
-The key elements are: in-text citations, references back to the source, repetition of key details, topic sentences, transitions between sources, and thought bridge sentences between related sources.
How can the conclusion paragraph be made more impactful?
-The conclusion can be made more impactful by: restating the thesis, commenting on gaps/flaws in the research, and providing a descriptive subtitle that reinforces the main point.
What is the purpose of adding subtitles between sections?
-The subtitles improve organization and aid the reader in understanding the structure and main points of each section.
What citation style is used in the examples?
-The examples illustrate using APA in-text citation style, with the author's name and year of publication in parentheses.
What is meant by the 'state of the art' with regards to literature reviews?
-This refers to reviewing the current and most advanced information published on the topic, to make yourself an expert before writing your own thesis or report.
What format should be used for the final output?
-The desired output format is JSON containing a qaList array with question and answer objects.
What writing style tips are offered in the presentation?
-Tips offered include using clear transitions, combining related ideas, writing descriptive subtitles, and structuring content in a logical order.
Outlines
😀 Introducing the topic of literature reviews
The speaker introduces literature reviews, explaining what they are and why they are important. Literature reviews gather background information to help make informed decisions and recommendations on a topic by summarizing the published work of experts.
😊 Breaking down the process of writing a literature review
The speaker outlines a 5-step process for efficiently writing a literature review in 30 minutes or less when you already have your research summaries prepared. The steps are: 1) Separate citations and summaries 2) Reorder paragraphs logically 3) Combine related paragraphs 4) Add topic sentences and transitions 5) Write introduction and conclusion.
😃 Demonstrating the process on a sample literature review
The speaker demonstrates the 5-step literature review writing process using a sample literature review on cultural diversity training in the workplace. They show how to reorder, combine, improve paragraphs and add framing introduction and conclusion sections.
🥳 Reviewing the easy 5-step process
The speaker summarizes the 5 steps: 1) Separate citations and summaries 2) Logically reorder paragraphs 3) Combine related paragraphs 4) Add topics and transitions 5) Add intro and conclusion. They emphasize that literature reviews provide background to then make arguments.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡literature review
💡cultural diversity
💡background research
💡published results
💡in-text citation
💡body paragraph
💡introduction paragraph
💡conclusion paragraph
💡problem-solution pattern
💡state of the art
Highlights
A literature review gathers background information before you make a decision or present your own arguments
Literature reviews make you an expert on a topic by summarizing existing research
A literature review consists of 5 key steps: separate summaries and citations, reorder summaries logically, combine related summaries, add topic sentences and transitions, add introduction and conclusion
Start by separating citation list from paragraph summaries of sources
Reorder paragraph summaries based on connections and similarities you find
Limit body paragraphs to 10-14 lines; combine closely related summaries
Add topic sentences and transitions to turn summaries into coherent paragraphs
Thesis statement brings together major points discussed in literature
Restate thesis in conclusion to tie review together
Note gaps or flaws in research reviewed in conclusion paragraph
Add subtitles between major sections to aid organization
Literature review gathers background to bring you up to date before presenting your own arguments
Separate citation list from paragraph summaries
Reorder summaries logically based on connections found
Limit body paragraphs; combine closely related summaries
Transcripts
[Music]
hi everyone and welcome one thing that I
promise you today is that this
presentation is going to last less than
30 minutes but I also promise you that
if you've already done good research
you've read all of your sources that you
need to on this topic you have extracted
information from them and otherwise
summarized the sources and written them
up and your summaries are and those
source citations are now in a nice
alphabetical list if you've done that
what is called annotated bibliography
and you're ready to start on this
literature review I guarantee you and if
you follow these steps I'm about to give
you you can write the rough draft of
this literature review in 30 minutes or
less but first a couple of questions
question number one what the heck is a
literature review or what the bleep is a
literature review the second question
why the bleep should I care what a
literature review is you know it seems
like we've got these stodgy professors
out there who kind of revel in the fact
that they like to give these academic
sounding assignments that really had no
validity in the real world and the
literature review things would be one of
those examples but you know what nothing
could be further from the truth and let
me show you why let's say that you just
graduated with a BS degree in human
resources management congratulations on
that GPA by the way three point eight
three and also congratulations on having
landed your first job as an
administrative manager at caliber
systems a firm with over 1,800 employees
you've definitely got room for
advancement there so everything's
looking great right now one day your
supervisor comes back from a meeting in
the C suite and has a little assignment
for you here's the assignment should
caliber systems institute a cultural
diversity training program
and if so what should that program
consist of your report which is doing
the form of a presentation in two weeks
is going to determine the future of your
job and your career at caliper systems
okay hotshot what's your next move your
next move is to go find some answers to
some very real questions those questions
being what is cultural diversity
training is it something that's gaining
acceptance in this human resources world
or is is considered a waste of money
another question one of the various
types of cultural diversity training
offered today especially in companies of
my size caliber systems and in my sector
IT consultancy third question what has
been the impacts both positive and
negative of cultural diversity training
on companies in other words before you
make a recommendation you've got to have
answers to those questions guess what I
got some good news for you the experts
have already answered all those
questions before you there are people
who get paid to answer questions like
those and publish their results all you
need to do is go find those answers the
answers that you find in the published
results are called the literature and
whenever you go and look for them that's
called a review or looking for them
oMG a literature review you've got the
right one for your job as a human
resources manager and an IT company
that's right
and more good news you can do that
literature review and five easy steps so
here's the take away a literature review
is not something that stodgy professors
assign just because they like to torture
you
literature reviews whatever you want to
call them are important ways to gather
background information before you make a
decision before you write up your report
now let's take a look at those five easy
steps and once you know them and you've
seen them Illustrated I guarantee you
that you're going to be able to write
this literature review in 30 minutes or
less when you do background research you
record the source of the information to
allow others to validate what you say
along with the details of what you found
so after completing your research you'll
have a list that look something like
this for the purposes of demonstration
we're showing only the first three items
from a much longer list in step one
you're going to strip this list into two
parts one the citations by themselves to
the paragraphs containing information
from the sources the list of citations
will look like this the list of
paragraphs will look like this save the
list of references and use it as the
last page of your literature review will
use the paragraphs as the body of your
literature review let's note three
important things about these summary
paragraphs first each paragraph at its
beginning contains an in-text citation
to its source because we're using APA
style the in-text citation consists of
the author's last name plus the year
publication in parentheses the author's
last name is outside of the parentheses
because the name is being used as a noun
in the sentence second note that the
sentences in the paragraph find a way to
refer back to the source so that the
reader knows the information is from the
source and not your own box
some examples are the author's present
and the article then there's repetition
of the author's name in the second
paragraph for solely is repeated four
times finally notice that the year of
publication only has to be repeated once
per paragraph okay congratulations on
completing step one you've taken your
basic research and produced to list a
list of citations and a list of
paragraphs now your task in step two is
to reorder the paragraphs to do this
carefully reread them as you do find
similarities and differences that will
allow you to reorganize the paragraphs
in a logical order based on the
connections you find among them during
this step keep in mind there will be no
one universally correct sequence the
best sequence is the one that you find
and apply effectively for example in our
first paragraph the annotation says the
author's studied storytelling as a way
to increase communication in a
culturally diverse workplace so this
source is presenting a strategy or a
solution for a problem let's label that
solution next is a 1996 article by fine
that calls cultural diversity in the
u.s. workplace quote perhaps the most
pressing challenge of our times
obviously we'll label this paragraph a
description of the problem next for
solely describes interviews with a West
African man that were hindered because
the two men had different attitudes
toward technology and communication for
solely underscores the need for
flexibility and understanding and
accepting how someone can be culturally
different so let's label this one
problem plus need for understanding
so a clear pattern is starting to emerge
sources that we're finding on this topic
describe is the problem or solutions to
the problem thus to complete step 2 we
will rearrange the summaries according
to this problem solution pattern that
we're seeing here are seven of the
summaries rearranged now a real that
review would have far more sources in
order to be thorough but in any case
we've imposed a clear organizational
pattern on our summaries our next step
step 3 you decide which summaries should
stand alone as a body paragraph and
which could be combined your decision
will be based on two factors factor one
how closely related the summaries are
the closer their relationship the more
reason you have to combine them factor
two is they're linked try to limit your
body paragraphs to 10 to 14 lines the
fine article can stand alone as a body
paragraph because it offers an overview
of the problem that dates back to the
previous century the next three sources
each studied a different group of
culturally diverse workers and concluded
the same thing but the three summaries
together are too long for a single
paragraph so the first two can be
grouped on the basis of geography a man
in West Africa and non-native workers in
Australia thus presenting a worldwide
problem The Sweeney in Zoo study brings
us back to the US and is long enough and
important enough to merit its own
paragraph all three studies now combined
into two paragraphs are tied together by
one theme mastery of language by itself
is not enough preparedness to deal with
cultural differences is also necessary
this need to be prepared provides a
natural transition to the last three
summaries that all discuss solutions
so the body of this literature review
will have five paragraphs one the first
body paragraph will set the stage by
defining the problem the second body
paragraph will show that the problem is
worldwide and requires preparing workers
to deal with cultural differences in
communication the third body paragraph
brings the problem home to the US and
reinforces the need for workers to be
sensitive to cultural differences the
fourth body paragraph presents two minor
solutions to the problem and the fifth
body paragraph presents an overarching
solution diversity training they can
apply to virtually any organization the
order in combination of the paragraphs
are set and now we're ready for step
four which is all about turning the
summary paragraphs into real paragraphs
by adding topic sentences and
transitions here's an example of a plain
summary paragraph as we wrote it down
after research now here is the same
paragraph with the topic sentence and
transition added let's compare them the
topic sentence cultural diversity has
long been recognized as a potential
problem in the workplace it introduces
the topic that will be discussed by the
source that comes next but a transition
phrase as far back as 1996 find stated
links the topic sentence and the source
together with the concept of time
when there's more than one source in a
paragraph a new sentence or thought
bridge but sometimes be added between
them for example here are two summary
paragraphs that we want to combine into
one we first add a topic sentence for
the two summaries both study
geographically dispersed cultures next
four so Lee's findings are presented
then a thought bridge sentence is added
to lead to the second summary and blend
them both into a smooth flowing
narrative as you see at the end of step
four you should have a series of body
paragraphs that consist of strong topic
sentences followed by source some rays
and then transitions from one summoning
to the next this review is looking
really excellent now it's ready for step
5 in step 5 the body of the literature
review gets an introduction paragraph
with pieces and a conclusion paragraph
because a literature review summarizes
the published works of others the thesis
statement should bring together the
major points discussed by the sources
and a phrase such as the following
review of literature signals to the
readers that they will be reading a
literature review not your the author's
individual claims arguments or opinions
note that the thesis statement for the
lit review also reflects the
problem-solution organizational pattern
of the paragraphs to follow one common
strategy from the conclusion paragraph
is to open with a restatement of the
thesis which brings the reader back to
the overall point another common
strategy for the conclusion is to
comment on any gaps or flaws and the
research reviewed of course no
literature review would be complete
without a title and now's the perfect
time to write it because we now know
everything that is in our lit review
cultural diversity in the workplace
overcoming barriers to communication
definitely does the job
as a further aid organization don't
forget to add subtitles between the
major sections of your lit review after
the introduction of our sample lit
review come to paragraph that discuss
the problem so our first body section
subtitle is defining the problem the
next major section presents solutions
so it's subtitle is searching for
solutions when it comes to the
conclusion don't waste an opportunity to
provide a specific subtitle that helps
to reinforce your thesis instead of just
using the neutral word conclusion note
how descriptive this subtitle for the
conclusion paragraph is preparing for
tomorrow today that takes care of step 5
and now you have a solid will organized
lit review okay there they are the five
easy steps it probably takes about as
long to explain them in illustrate them
than it would be to actually do them
let's review them quickly step number
one separate those paragraph summaries
from the citations save the citations
for your reference page and then you're
going to turn those paragraph summaries
into your literature review and in doing
that the first thing you're going to do
is to rearrange those paragraph
summaries and a logical order that
presents itself to you as you reread
them the third step is then to combine
whatever summaries need to be combined
and then the fourth step is to add in
those really important topic sentences
and transitions so that they read
together smoothly and then add your
introduction and conclusion paragraphs
and you got yourself a literature review
one last thing I want you to keep in
mind about a literature review is that
the literature review is only a
preliminary step in other words it's
something that you do to gather
background knowledge to kind of bring
yourself up to date to the state of the
art so that you know exactly what is
going on before
and what's taking place right now you're
the expert so you use the literature
review to make yourself the expert on
that topic and once you've got all that
background knowledge then you can write
about it then you can write your thesis
then you can write your argument ative
report then you can do your presentation
because you have made yourself an expert
via the literature review okay thanks
very much for watching the presentation
and I wish you the very best of luck on
your literature review
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