Dissertation Searching

For my university, I was told that 200 searches were all right as the initial search before limiting the search down. At the moment, I have gone down from 161 searches to 51 searches. Is that okay in terms of doing a literature review for the handful of papers for the methodology section (chapter 2)?

Reply 1

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by susan_ogundiran7

This depends on the course you are doing and the guidance you've been given by your specific uni. The number of searches doesn't matter if the results are rubbish and not relevant to your enquiry. Search things, see what you get, read some stuff - if it's good then write about it. See where you are after a while.

Reply 2

mike23mike

Why not borrow a book from the university library on how to write a dissertation for your subject? Picking the number of articles to read is not very wise. A lit review should approach the topic in a number of ways - chronologically or by theme. You should be seeking patterns and contradictions in your lit review and - ideally - identify a gap in the research which your own research will fill. The number of articles to include is really not a measure of a 'strong' or 'weak' lit review.