Companion Websites

Kathryn Jones is Senior Research Fellow in the Health Policy Research Unit, Department of Public Policy at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. She is a trained information scientist. Her research interests include patient and public involvement and professional regulation. She has published in journals such as Health Expectations and Sociology of Health and Illness.

Chapter overview

This chapter describes how to undertake a rigorous and thorough review of the literature. It examines the two main types of review: the narrative and the systematic review. It then explores the techniques for undertaking a comprehensive search. Finally, guidance on how an analysis of the literature can be presented is provided.

Chapter links

Chapter 21 - Writing Up Health Research and Getting Published

Suggested Online Readings

Anand, A.S. (2005) ‘The Mental Health Status of South Asian Women in Britain: A Review of the UK Literature’, Psychology and Developing Societies, 17 (2): 195-214.

This article reviews the research on the mental health status of South Asian women living in UK. It reports on the findings from epidemiological studies of the prevalence of depression, suicide, parasuicide, deliberate self-harm and eating disorders in this community. The focus is on research studies that describe cultural influences on conceptualisations and expressions of distress, help seeking behaviours and alternative coping strategies. Argues that salient cultural and religious concepts identified in studies may facilitate understanding South Asian women's mental ill health, and that there is an urgent need to develop gender, linguistic and culturally sensitive mental health services for women of South Asian origins now citizens of UK.

Christianson, J.B.; Warrick, L.H.; Wholey, D.R. (2005) ‘Physicians’ Perceptions of Managed Care: A Review of the Literature Medical Care’, Research and Review, 62 ( 6): 635-75.

In this article, the literature on physician attitudes and opinions about managed care and its effect on clinical practice is reviewed. The review suggests that physicians’ perceptions of managed care are linked to their involvement in managed care plans and to the practice setting. It draws attention to the limitations in design and execution of the studies under review suggesting that their findings on physicians’ perceptions should be viewed with caution even though the literature is substantial. The review concludes with suggestions for the conduct of future research on this topic.

Ingleton, C.; Payne, S.; Nolan, M.; Carey, I. (2003) ‘Respite in Palliative Care: A Review and Discussion of the Literature’, Palliative Medicine, 17 (7): 567-75.

This paper reviews the literature on respite in palliative care. It considers the definitions and assumptions that underpin the term ’respite’ and its impact on the physical, psychological and social outcomes for carers working in palliative care contexts. The literature search process identified 260 papers, of which 28 related directly to adult respite care in specialist centres. Most papers gave descriptive accounts of respite programmes; guidance on referral criteria to respite services or evaluated the effects of respite on the patient rather than the carer. It concludes that there is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about whether offering respite care supports the carers of patients with advanced disease.

Further Reading

Gash, S. (2000) Effective Literature Searching for Research. Aldershot: Gower.

This is an excellent, easy to understand guide for students and other researchers on the process of planning, executing and recording a literature search, covering both print and electronic sources.

Hart, C. (1998) Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination. London: Sage.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the process of accessing, analyzing and understanding the arguments presented in academic texts – giving useful advice on how the literature review fits into undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations.

Petticrew, M. and Roberts, H. (2006) Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

This highlights how systematic reviews of research evidence are becoming increasingly important in the social sciences, much of which is also relevant to narrative reviews as well.

<< Previous Chapter

Next Chapter >>

Return to chapter list