Academic Writing

Literature
Reviews and
Book Reviews
UNIT
4.2
Literature reviews are sections of a paper in which the writer summarises recently
published work on the topic. They are standard in dissertations, but in most papers
a summary of relevant and recent authorities is included in the introduction.
Book reviews may be written by graduate students for academic journals in order to
broaden their knowledge and achieve publication.

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Part 4:

Writing Models
Writers may also show how changes in thought have appeared at different times:
Of late, a number of papers (Besley et al., 2006; Besley and Preston, 2007; Persson and Tabellini,
2000) have collated the various arguments . . .
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See 
Unit 1.9
Combining Sources
2 Example literature review
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Study the following example, from a student essay on motivation theory. Answer the
questions that follow.
CONTENT AND PROCESS THEORIES
The various theories of motivation are usually divided into content theories and
process theories. The former attempt to ‘develop an understanding of fundamental
human needs’ (Cooper et al., 1992: 20). Among the most significant are Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs theory, McClellan’s achievement theory and Herzberg’s two-
factor theory. The process theories deal with the actual methods of motivating
workers, and include the work of Vroom, Locke and Adams.
Content Theories
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory was first published in 1943 and envisages a
pyramid of needs on five levels, each of which has to be satisfied before moving up
to the next level. The first level is physiological needs such as food and drink,
followed by security, love, esteem and self-fulfilment (Rollinson, 2005: 195–196). This
theory was later revised by Alderfer, who reduced the needs to three: existence,
relatedness and growth, and re-named it the ERG theory. In addition, he suggested
that all three needs should be addressed simultaneously (Steers et al., 2004: 381).
McClelland had a slightly different emphasis when he argued that individuals were
primarily motivated by three principal needs: for achievement, affiliation and power
(Mullins, 2006: 199).
In contrast, Herzberg suggested, on the basis of multiple interviews with engineers
and accountants during the 1950s, a two-factor theory: that job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction had differing roots. He claimed that so-called hygiene factors such as
conditions and pay were likely to cause negative attitudes if inadequate, while
positive attitudes came from the nature of the job itself. In other words, workers
were satisfied if they found their work intrinsically interesting, but would not be

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(a) How many types of motivation theory are described?

(b) How many different theorists are mentioned?
(c) How many sources are cited?
(d) Why has the writer not referred to the work of the theorists directly but used
secondary sources instead?
motivated to work harder merely by good salaries or holiday allowances. Instead
workers needed to be given more responsibility, more authority or more challenging
tasks to perform (Vroom and Deci, 1992: 252). Herzberg’s work has probably been
the most influential of all the theories in this field, and is still widely used today,
despite being the subject of some criticism, which will be considered later.