FINAL CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW (85%)
The Final Critical Literature Review (2000 words), it should be noted, is worth 85% and
consideration will be given to the following:
§ A comprehensive introduction
§ Selection of appropriate resources
§ Critical analysis and review of resources
§ A comprehensive conclusion
§ Presentation of work
The Final Critical Literature Review should demonstrate significant advancement from your
Progress Report — avoid the temptation of ‘cutting’ and ‘pasting’ large quantities of work
from your Progress Report. You should at this final stage, produce a Critical Literature
Review which shows evidence of wide and analytical reading, reflecting an outstanding
(critical) comprehension of literature in your chosen topic / subject area.
The following guidelines (for indicative purposes) have been adapted from a framework
proposed at the University of Warwick (1994 cited in Blaxter et al. 1997: 217) for structuring
a final year dissertation. You might find these useful:
§Introduction
Outline the research area — presenting the aim / objective(s) / research question(s), which
should relate to the literature review. Clearly and concisely state the reasons (or rationale)
for choosing the topic / subject area. Place your work in an academic and / industrial
context — how is it of use to the sector the topic / subject area relates to (industrial context)
and / or what debate are you developing in the academic realm? Briefly outline the structure
of your report — what is contained in each section. This will give the reader an indication
of what is to follow, and how your project, research and thought have been developed.
§ Literature Review
This is a critical assessment of existing research in your chosen topic / subject area. The
critical review of literature should include contemporary resources and, also, depth and
breadth of arguments are important. The literature review should be placed into context in
view of the aim /…