A dissertation is a research essay; it seeks to respond to a doubt, a problem. In deciding your reading and research strategies you need to ask, where did the problem come from? What is already known about it? What other methods have been tried to solve it? The literature review seeks to indicate that you understand what, in discussion of these questions, has been published.

Literature means everything that has been written in the field of enquiry, the recognized or respected writing on a given subject. Academic reading is in some sense respectable, worthy reading for academic study, and is specialized and technical. The purpose of this reading is to become informed about theories, debates and perspectives in the field of enquiry. It has to precede your research because it assists in formulating ideas that will help you devise your methodology.

A Literature Review Must

  1. be related directly to the argument (known as the thesis) that you are proposing
  2. integrate reading into a summary of what is known and what gaps there may be
  3. identify issues and debates emerging from the literature
  4. formulate questions that necessitate more research

Expressing a theoretical framework often features as a function of writing up the literature review. In a theoretical framework you would include an outline of existing theories which are relevant to your research topic. You could also indicate research projects similar to yours that have been written up.