Compare and contrast the various findings, arguments, theories, and methodologies in the literature.

Literature Overview Assignment
You will delve into the literature about your topic and research question. By now, you should
have watched the videos made by our librarians on campus to learn how to search for and
evaluate research sources.
For this assignment, using the library databases, you will be responsible for finding a minimum
of eight research articles. The articles must be academic in nature and peer-reviewed.
You will then compile the articles and create a synthesized review of literature document. A
synthesized review of literature means that you are actually reading and integrating the
different sources together rather than just listing information from each study separately. I will
talk more about this in lecture.
What should you include?
Your literature review assignment should include the following:
 The main ideas, theories and concepts related to your topic.
 Areas of agreement and disagreement related to your topic
 Any problems or gaps in the literature related to your topic.
Here are some things to think about:
 What are some common themes?
 Compare and contrast the various findings, arguments, theories, and methodologies in
the literature.
 What do the authors agree or disagree about? What are the major areas of
disagreement, controversy, or debate?
 Critique the literature; synthesize and evaluate the research, don’t just describe or
report it. Look for any assumptions or bias in the literature.
What will you turn in?
 3-6 pages of text
 Double spaced
 12-point font
 Consistent formatting – you may use any style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc), but be
consistent. We will be learning APA in class and using that for your final assignment, so
if you feel confident using APA, it will give you a head start on your final project.

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