The objective of your literature review is to provide a synthesized answer to the following two questions:

• What do we know about the phenomena/research question?
• What do we not know about the phenomena/research question?

Wrong Approach (“summary”)

  - Study A finds 1
  - Study B finds 2
  - Study C finds 1
  - Study D finds 1+2
  - Study E finds 3
  - Study F finds 4
  - My study contributes to the literature by doing x, y,
  and z.

Correct approach (“synthesis”)

  - First stream of literature is concerned with 1.
    - Study A supports 1 (+ argument used in study)
    - Study C adds to it (+ argument used in study),
    providing further evidence for 1.
    - But, they miss out on x (-> contribution!)

  - Second stream of literature is concerned with 2.
    - For example, study B and D find 2, while study D
    even supports 1.
    - But, they miss out on y (-> contribution!)

  - Third stream deals with related phenomena.
    - Study E finds 3 (+ why it’s important to your study)
    - Study F finds 4 (+ why it’s important to your study)
    - But, they miss out on z (-> final contribution!)

To sum up, it is very important to provide a synthesis of the literature, rather than merely listing a couple of studies you have read.