A literature review is an overview and critical evaluation of published information about a topic. It's purpose is to identify:
It doesn't present any original research.
Make an appointment with your Liaison Librarian to help you with your search.
Make an appointment with an academic writing expert at Manaaki Pukenga to help you write your literature review.
Essays
Essays are one of the most common types of assignment you’ll be asked to produce at Wintec. There are many kinds of essays, but they usually involve constructing an argument about a particular subject, comparing related ideas and supporting your perspective on the topic with evidence from secondary sources.
Essays typically have an introduction, a series of body paragraphs exploring the subject, and a conclusion in which your position on the subject is made clear.
How to write an essay
The following are guides to show you where to begin with writing your essay, how to plan it and structure it, as well as what a well-crafted essay looks like:
Wintec Learner Success Toolkit
The Wintec Learner Success Toolkit has instructions on how to plan and write an essay.
Make an appointment with an academic writing expert at Manaaki Pūkenga to help you write your essay.
Auckland University of Technology
AUT has video tutorials on essay writing as well as sample essays.
Massey University
Massey University has instructions on how to write the different parts of an essay as well as annotated sample essays.
Types of research
Primary research
Primary research is the collection of original data directly from primary sources, and the interpretation of such data. Primary research methods include observation, interviews, surveys, experiments, close-reading of creative works, etc.
You may be required to refer to primary research in your assignments—usually complemented by secondary research material (see below). Alternatively, your assignment may require you to design and carry out primary research of your own, using one or more of the methods above.
Secondary research
Secondary research is the process of gathering and using existing data, information, scholarship, theory, etc. to support your own research or the work you are doing in your assignment. You will refer to secondary material in most assignments you write. Ideally, the secondary material you use will be authoritative, peer-reviewed, and gathered from a variety of sources such as books, journals, and the scholarly resources available in the Library databases.
Click on the images below to check out more information about primary and secondary research and resources from our Research Starter database:
