#37 Literature review and critical thinking

When I shared my first literature review with my supervisors for feedback, one of them told me this:

“Jamal, you are not engaging enough with the literature”

In fact, I was mainly citing and summarizing what others have written.

But I was not critical enough.

A literature review is about evaluating, analyzing, and providing your insights.

Here, I want to show the importance of “critical thinking”. And I want to give a few strategies to avoid getting lost in the literature.

 The Importance of Critical Thinking

This is one of the most difficult skills to master when doing a PhD.

To be critical doesn’t mean you criticize what others have written.

And it doesn’t mean to be negative. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of other papers.

It means that you evaluate, analyze, discuss, and offer your interpretation.

Don’t simply list what others have found. But showcase your perspective on the issues you discuss.

 Ask the Right Questions

One way to develop critical thinking is to ask questions about others' papers.

You can start with these five basic questions:

1. Who? - Who wrote this, and what is their background?

2. Where? - Where was this work published? What is the broader context?

3. What? - What are the main arguments and findings?

4. When? - When was this work published? How might that impact its relevance?

5. Why? - Why was this research conducted? What are the motivations?

These questions serve as a starting point for detailed analyses.

More questions to use:

- What are the authors trying to say?

- What theories or perspectives have they used?

- Are their arguments convincing?

- How does their work relate to other studies in the field?

- How does it relate to my research question or problem?

The answers to these questions will give you rich material to engage with the literature instead of just writing a summary.

 Don’t get lost and keep your voice

There is a huge volume of scientific literature.

It’s easy to get lost.

It’s also easy to say things like:

“Author A argues that …” or “Author B found that…”

I did that too: summarizing or repeating what others said instead of offering my own analysis.

There are a few practical tips to avoid this:

1.    Speak with authority:

Don’t just report what other authors have said. Go beyond with your perspective, analysis and critique.

2.    Be Selective:

There is no need to include very paper you found relevant. Just focus on the most relevant and impactful ones.

3.    Synthesize:

Don’t just list but group similar studies and compare them. Shoe where the authors agree, differ and where you stand in the debate.

 In summary, ask more critical questions about the methods, theories, and conclusions found in the papers you found.

And use the questions above to filter the noise and keep what’s more relevant.

That's all for this week.

Let us know in the comments if you have other suggestions.

For more in-depth guidance on writing your PhD literature review, check out my other posts.

As always, if you need clarification or assistance with your research projects, feel free to reach out to me, and I will respond.

See you next Sunday!

Jamal

My favorite things this week

1. A research event in Dubai gathering senior managers from the UAE. Interesting discussions about various topics such as collaboration, funding, innovation

2. A series of webinars for researchers and PhD students from Morocco. 

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