I'm getting a little concerned that my lit review is WAY too long! For those of you in social sciences particularly, how long is your lit review? and do you have other chpaters that aren't technically lit review, but are not about the method etc. My lit review -when complete may be about 60000 words so getting a bit worried.

I have
chapter 1: intro
Chapter 2: evolution of research in my area and theoretical stance
Chapter 3: lit review
Chapter 4: methodology
Chapters..... = studies
Discussion

Just skimmed through a literature review the other day and it was 100 pages! I think that's approximately 40, 000 words and it was just the literature review. I think mine will be about 20,000 but it's far too early to say.

ok - that sounds better. I am sure mine will be edited beyond belief. I am a very concise write believe it or not - its just there is a lot to say on the different areas!

This is my problem too!!! I decided not to have a lit review as such, and to put the lit for each chapter in as I went along, basically because I couldn't decide what went where, and thought if I did a lit review, well that would be most of the research done. I think its a social science thing. However I read the Clough and Nutbrown book 'A student's guide to methodology' and have decided I will have to do some kind of lit review, but its going to be just the basics to give an outline of different thoughts on the areas which I will expand upon in each chapter and I'm going to stick it in with the introduction. Can you get some of it out of the lit review and into its own chapter? Incidentally, my supervisor had two lit review chapters, but then his supervisor also let him take his entire methodology out of the main body and put it in as an appendix, but I suppose when you are top of your own particular tree, which he is,  people are not going to argue so much as they will with us lesser mortals (assuming you are a lesser mortal of course!):$ Incidentally, my methodology chapter is heading for the 'too long' stakes too, and at one point I didn't think I would have enough to put in it - such is life. Mines going to go;

intro and lit review
methodology
background chapter
3 chapters looking at various aspects of the problem as I see it with results of study put in as appropriate
a chapter linking background to this study
discussion tying all these together
what this could mean and how the research could be carried further
so there will be quite a lot of literature analysis to go in the chapters 'beyond the lit review' - now that sounds like a book title to me :-)

Hi sneaks,

In my dept (social science, top school) there's no way in which a thesis can exceed 100K plus minus, but usually minus a few K. And there's also no way in which we can do away withany of the chapters you say below, and hence 12k to 10k per chapter is the automatic count.

60k to me sounds way too long, sorry! In my dept it would at most spread across theoretical framework chap and proper lit rev chap and a bit of introduction chap, and hence inch close to 30k total, max..inclusive of this all...

I did a literature review for publication that ran to 35, 000 words (including references)

I'm just about to start my Phd in October. After reading all the threads about lit reviews and the such, my feeling is that I'm going to structure my thesis chronologically (4 chapters / 4 periods) and so have a mini lit review at the beginning of each one. Just to clarify, cos i'm an idiot, a lit review is just the presentation of pieces of work from your field of research - work that you are rejecting, or work that you are "building upon" etc etc, isn't it? I think.

Hmm this is my worry - I mean at the moment my lit review is really sections of literature - so I am hoping once it all gets put in and flows along nicely a lot of it can be removed - and I have probably gone overboard in depth because I wanted to make sure I understood the area (I am having to write a lot about sociology when I am in psychology). - so hopefully my supervisor will see it and cross most of it out - but at least I will have a massive book to read before my viva lol.

THink it will be the biggest part of my thesis though - my data isn't exactly forthcoming at the mo lol. And am definately having 2 lit review chapters as it just read better - and anything to make it easier on the examiners must be a plus!

You will probably find that your thesis structure is dictated by your field - i.e. copy examples of others. In my field everyone has a main lit review, then a chapter for method, then a chapter on each study. It sounds confusing cos if you wrote a study up it would have its own lit review - my sup says you just have to show them you know about the area - which I am doing with great zeal!

A note: a lit review for publication would be on diff grounds... i co-authored one for the BBC recently, with my supervisor, where I also played an RA role, and that was around 10K, but there are others which are huger and were 40 K, so that is variable... (Sneaks, I wrote my views thinking your query was for your thesis)

My sup has a nice metaphor for a lit rev. She calls it a Room. So get in dissenting voices to speak in the room, show you know the key players... then move around in the room abd try to open windows to touch upon other secondary areas...then find a pattern to see who's talking to whom, and which groups go where....

then observe it all, and locate a space in the room where you want to position yourself...and in that space frame your argument...

:-)

If the literature review is the biggest bit of the thesis that would ring alarm bells for me if I was reading it. The thesis is supposed to be about your contribution to the research world, so that should be the main part. Covering what other people have done in the past should be of much lesser importance.

How much of the 60,000 words is really important and essential? I'm wondering if you're including things that aren't vital. It does really sound too broad.

For the record I'm a humanities student now (but was a science PhD student 13 years ago). I have one joint intro/lit review chapter which is just 6500 words long. And then I have mini lit reviews at the start of each subsequent thematic chapter. My thesis is a little short, but I've been told it will be ok.

Well I will have three large studies, so am contributing a lot to the literature. Basically, the topic has been looked at in other areas, but not from the same angle so I am having to discuss the other angles too!

Yes but your original data/findings has to be by far and away the biggest part. Not the literature review. Otherwise it's not fulfilling the requirements of the thesis.

What stage are you at since you're worried about getting the data? Do you still have plenty of time to get results? I wrote my literature review in the first few months of my part-time PhD then spent the remaining years doing the research.

lol, I'm 2 years in! - But have done 1 and half studies and currently setting up the final one at the mo. I don't think my lit review will end up being 60,000 perhaps more like 30,000 and a 10,000 chapter preceding it on the theoretical background and history of the research area. but, the fact that I am pulling literature from out of my field - will in itself be adding to my field of research - as it has not been looked at before and where it has, my field is very ignorant of the other disciplines and how they have approached it.

lol, I'm 2 years in! - But have done 1 and half studies and currently setting up the final one at the mo. I don't think my lit review will end up being 60,000 perhaps more like 30,000 and a 10,000 chapter preceding it on the theoretical background and history of the research area. but, the fact that I am pulling literature from out of my field - will in itself be adding to my field of research - as it has not been looked at before and where it has, my field is very ignorant of the other disciplines and how they have approached it.