CMJ 202: Communication Theory

You are being asked to write an annotated bibliography that includes several of the sources you may ultimately use in your final paper. This brief video from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Libraries provides a good foundation for getting started.

You are also being asked to collaboratively write a literature review.

A literature review brings together a range of relevant works on a topic, and is intended to:

• explore compelling questions, problems, concepts, or issues that you would like to address;
• present relationships between ideas, and sources;
• critique and synthesize various strands of the conversation taking place around your topic;
• identify research gaps, areas for further consideration, and/or disagreements in the literature.

Although a literature review tells a story, the research process that goes into that storytelling is nonlinear. There are likely many lines of study/angles/perspectives on your topic, and a literature review is an opportunity for you to make meaning of all that you are learning. This meaning making is one of the most creative parts of the literature review process.

Watch the brief video below, from University of Glasgow professor Nathalie Sheridan, for an excellent introduction to synthesizing information (i.e., putting your sources in conversation with one another) for your literature review.