Literature review 503
Assignment Instructions
There are two parts to this assignment: a 5 page written literature review and an audio summary (I’ll be writing writing the audio summary portion). Each is described below. The literature review should be written in Word and uploaded as an attachment within the Assignments section of the classroom. Use 12 pt. New Roman font and double-space. Be sure to put your name and class information on the document and put your name on the file. Insert page numbers on all graduate-level work.
The Literature Review
The purpose of this assignment is to propose a theoretical perspective that informs your research and assess the scholarly literature that has been written on your research question, including how it informs your research question and hypothesis. It should be 5 pages in length, and accompanied by an audio component (see below).
Content of the literature review:
The literature review should assess (1) which theoretical approach that we have covered in the course best informs your overall argument and hypothesis (e.g., socialization and interest convergence, liberal institutionalism, structural realism, feminist theory, etc.) and (2) evaluate the findings from the scholarly literature that exists on your research topic.
Structure of the written literature review:
The literature review is NOT an annotated bibliography. Rather, it is an analytical exercise in which you evaluate a body of literature. As such, your literature review should be organized by theme (NOT an article-by-article summary). A good literature review is a thoughtful study of what has been written, a summary of the arguments and findings that exist (whether you agree with them or not), and is arranged thematically. The literature review should be written in coherent narrative style. At the end of the evaluation, there should still be gaps in the literature that you intend to fill with your research.
Here is a site explaining various ways to construct a literature review. Note that a good literature review is not a list of sources with description, but it involves synthesis and dissection of sources, with minimal use of quotes.
All references must be cited in Chicago/Turabian format, which means including page numbers.
The audio component:
Going to complete this portion. please disregard this part.
