It's time consuming yes, but it doesn't have to be stressful. I admit I believe the majority of my laid back attitude towards this is that I've given it all to God in prayer but for those of you reading this that may not have the same faith here are some practical tips to getting your literature review sorted (though I think prayer is the best cure for anything :p )
So...
- Get your head around your dissertation. There is no point in trying to put your knowledge onto paper when there’s no structure to it. Using what you have learnt already from lessons and research, think about the arguments you are trying to make and how you can argue this strongly.
- Once you’ve got your head around it, write it down. Write what kind of areas you want to explore within your main question. Know what you’re looking for before you look for it. For example my dissertation is about Christian journalists and whether Christianity and journalism are compatible, so some of my areas are: conflict of interest, objectivity and freedom of expression.
- Read through academic sources and find quotes that relate to the sections and questions you have outlined in part two.
- Using the above quotes, start writing up your different sections. As you go through, jot down what other information you could do with having to make your argument stronger.
- Go back to the books to find the quotes you said you wanted in part four.
- Add these to what you’ve got in your essay so far.
- Put all your sections together so that they flow well.
- Edit your copy several times to make sure it's the best standard it could be.
This may not work for everyone, but sometime getting yourself organised can go a long way- and this way helped me!
