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Health Informatics and Information Management

Resource Guide for the Health Informatics and Health Information Program

What is a Literature Review?

It is a summary of sources, that also has an organizational pattern that also synthesizes the evidence. How you present it can vary, being an evaluation of sources that advises the reader, trace the progression of a field, or be an interpretation of old and/or new materials.

Literature Review Process

Organizing the Body

A Literature Review is Not Box

What is the Purpose?

  • Explain the background / introduce your research topic
  • Identify overarching themes of current research
  • Suggest unexplored areas of research
  • Assess current research in the field

What is the Scope?

  • Consider how current the research is on your topic
    • Health Sciences changes more quickly that other firleds
  • Consider how detailed or comprehensive you want your project to be
    • Focus on one aspect or encapsulate all research
  • Consider the ways you can examine the research regarding your project 
    • Qualitative vs. Quantitative methods
    • Previously used methodologies
  • Consider how you want to organize your project
    • Chronologically vs. Thematically

These are some of the documents that a Literature Review would be used in

Grant Proposal Senior or Masters Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Research Article