Identifying why your research topic is relevant to the study of leadership

This course project is designed to broaden your exposure to critical leadership paradigms through independent
research

A literature review is an opportunity for you, as the researcher, to explore and draw upon research that exists related to
your research topic. It allows you to summarize key findings, building an argument for why your research topic is
important and relevant to our study of leadership. This is the goal of your literature review.

Specific benefits of writing a literature review include

Learning a lot about your research topic

Identifying why your research topic is relevant to the study of leadership

Seeing how other researchers have studied the topic and what research designs/methodologies may be useful
Comparing and contrasting different points of view

In terms of expectations, the literature review for this assignment shoul
Be approximately 5-7 pages in length (excluding title page and reference page)
Cite approximately 4-6 sources from professional, peer-reviewed journals

Cite your course textbooks, as appropriate for your topic,

In terms of the structure for the paper:

Begin by introducing/defining the topic

Summarize and analyze current research related to the topic

Why is this topic relevant to the study of leadership?

How may this leadership approach be applied or used in organizations?

What are the positive outcomes/benefits of using this leadership approach?
Draw conclusions about the findings in the literature

Is there agreement on how/why this leadership approach is valuable?

Do researchers agree on its positive impact?

Are there any downfalls or criticisms of this leadership approach?

‘Synthesize and organize relevant research findings in a meaningful way
Describe trends and themes in the research

Show how research on the topic has changed over time

Compare/contrast different points of view on the topic