Literature review-theory

Every Honors project needs to do a certain amount of “research” into relevant problem areas, appropriate solutions and the technologies that support them, and also a review of existing examples covering these areas or other projects that have tackled similar problems.  Try to illustrate how this research has led to or justified the decisions you’ve taken.

It is expected that work done by others in the past that are relevant to the present work be discussed briefly. This constitutes the foundation on which the intended report is built on. The review of the literature summarizes and evaluates the previous authors’ contribution to the present study. e.g.(Doebelin E. 1985). It is noted that while reviewing the work done by others, there are five types of notes that can be taken. They are:

i. Quotation (use author’s exact words),

ii. Paraphrasing (use the authors’ idea in another words),

iii. Summarizing (use author’s main points),

iv. Copying (use author’s figures, tables or charts), and

v. Personal reactions or comments on the work.

Direct quotation should be used sparingly in the write-up and it should be brief, starting and ending with inverted commas. When paraphrasing, the ideas are stated in the writer’s own words. This is an alternative to direct quotation. To ensure that the writer uses his own words; he reads the portion of the text to be paraphrased, close the book and then write down the idea in his own words. A summary is the gist of the work being reviewed stated in the writer’s own words.