The elephant named Lit Review – one bite at a time.

My site supervisor suggested that I prepare a literature review as part of my internship.  In all honesty, the literature review was something that intimidated me so much that I was almost avoiding its existence in my life.  This is definitely not a healthy attitude for a budding researcher.  I had read many, and I was, more often than not, amazed at the researchers’ abilities to summarize many, many, many texts into a credible AND interesting academic text.  How in the world would I be able to do this?  Where do I start?  There is so much to read, and so much research to sift through.  When something overwhelming is presented before us in this house, my husband comes back to this joke...and pardon the animal reference (I love animals!)...

Husband:  How do you eat an elephant?

Me:  I don’t know.  How does one eat an elephant?

Husband:  One bite at a time.

So, in this spirit, my literature view was my elephant, and I just had to decide where I would take the first bite.  Capella University provides an excellent guide to composing a literature review, so I used it as a guide on my voyage (a blueprint to my elephant).  With this guide in hand, and many articles to read, I began the process....one bite at a time.

Now my literature review is complete – well, a 33 page first draft – and I am not even full....I still have lots of room.