15 Reasons Why Literature Review Is Important?

Why literature review is important? It allows researchers to gain a better understanding of the existing body of knowledge on their topic of study. It also helps them to identify any gaps in the research and to formulate their research questions accordingly.

Furthermore, the literature review enables researchers to critically evaluate the research that has been conducted on their topic and to synthesize the findings into a coherent whole. It helps them to make sense of their research and to better understand it.

The importance of literature review in research cannot be overemphasized. It can be said that without a good literature review, any research study would be doomed to fail. This is because the purpose of a literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of all the relevant existing research on a particular topic. By doing so, it allows researchers to develop a clear understanding of the current state of knowledge on their topic and identify any gaps in the research that need to be filled.

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15 Benefits of Literature Review In Research

The significance of literature review cannot be overstated because it gives direction, structure, focus, and coherence to academic writing on a particular topic. It also allows for effective communication among researchers by helping them to decide which issues are significant. Moreover, it permits the researcher to situate his or her work within the existing body of knowledge.

There are four main functions of literature review; bring clarity and focus to research problem, improve research methodology, increase knowledge regarding the research topic, and build on your findings.

Let’s look at why literature review is important in research:

1. Literature Review Helps Establish A Context For Research

One of the main objectives of the literature review is to provide a context for the research. It puts the current research in perspective and shows how it relates to what has been done before. It also identifies the gaps in the existing body of knowledge and helps to formulate new research questions.

2. Literature Review Helps Identify The Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework provides the conceptual underpinnings of the research and literature review is a key component in identifying it. It helps to clarify the rationale for the study and shows how the research is linked to existing theory.

3. Literature Review Helps Clarify Research Questions

One of the main functions of the literature review is to help researchers formulate clear and concise research questions. By reading extensively about a topic, researchers can develop well-defined questions that can be addressed through their research.

4. Literature Review Helps Assess The Quality Of Previous Research

A literature review allows researchers to critically assess the quality of previous research on the topic. It enables them to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the previous studies and to decide whether they should build upon or replace them.

5. Literature Review Helps Comparing Different Studies

A literature review helps researchers to compare and contrast existing research on a particular topic to draw better conclusions from it. It also shows how different studies are related and explains why some questions have received more attention than others.

6. Literature Review Gives Context To The Research Study

The literature review provides context for the research study that follows by showing its connection with what has already been published on the subject. It lays out the most significant issues in the field, describes them clearly, and explains why they are important. This allows readers to understand all subsequent research within this context, thus giving it greater impact.

7. Literature Review Helps To Identify Problems

One of the main benefits of the literature review is that it helps researchers to identify problems, issues, or controversies in the existing body of knowledge on their topic. It then allows them to address these concerns in their work and broaden the scope of research by contributing new ideas and insights.

8. Literature Review Provides A Map For Future Research

A literature review can also be useful for laying out a road map for future research studies. It identifies gaps in previous research studies and provides information about areas where further investigation is needed.

9. Literature Review Enables Researchers Save Time

A well-done literature review can help researchers to save time by identifying relevant studies and steering them away from those that are not. It also allows them to focus on the most important issues and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

10. Literature Review Helps In Development Of New Research Methods

The process of reviewing the existing literature can help researchers to develop new research methods and to improve upon existing ones. By reading extensively about their topic, they may come up with new ways of looking at things that can then be tested in their research study.

11. Literature Review Helps In The Design Of New Studies

The design of a research study is based upon the theoretical framework, which in turn is based upon the findings of the previous literature review. By reading extensively about their topic, researchers can come up with well-defined research questions as well as variables and hypotheses.

12. Literature Review Help Evaluating The Outcomes Of Another Study

Another major benefit of the literature review is that it can help in evaluating the outcomes of another study. This is especially true for those studies that use quantitative methods since they generally provide more objective data than qualitative studies do. It also helps readers to understand the merits and shortcomings of a particular study and thus arrive at a reliable judgment about its worth.

13. Literature Review Increases Understanding Of Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Studies

A literature review provides ample information on cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, which helps readers to understand the differences between them. The former provide current data on a population whereas the latter study changes in exposure and outcome variables over time.

14. Literature Review Helps In Realizing Importance Of Validity And Reliability

The process of literature review makes readers more aware of the importance of validity and reliability. It shows how these two characteristics can influence research results and thus help them to make informed decisions about whether or not to include specific studies in their work.

15. Literature Review Helps To Develop Understanding About A New Topic

Another benefit of the literature review is that it helps researchers explore complex topics, which they may be unfamiliar with at first. By reading about these topics, they can develop an understanding of what research has been conducted on the topic and how it has been conducted. This, in turn, can help them to develop their research study.

The Importance Of Literature Review – Conclusion

In conclusion, the literature review is an important process that helps researchers to develop a better understanding of their topic and the existing body of knowledge on it. It also helps them to identify potential problems and issues that may need to be addressed in their research study. Therefore, it is something that should not be taken lightly and should be given the attention that it deserves.

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Ayesha Akhtar