ABSTRACT
This chapter shows novice researchers how to overcome all the challenges and presents a literature review that: is argumentative and flows logically; will deepen novice researchers’ understanding; and will actually contribute to the originality of their research. Relational analysis involves analysing the relations between the terms in a meaningful research question. Assumptions are connected to others, so research questions make several inter-related key assumptions. There are two types of assumptions, namely: mundane and fundamental assumptions. Mundane assumptions are regarded as too obvious to argue, and fundamental assumptions are regarded by the discipline as too important to argue. The arrows represent the connecting sentences, and novice researchers will probably have to rethink the connections, but the result will still be a literature review that is coherent and argumentative. Only the key assumptions are open to different perspectives. A person practised in finding assumptions would easily find many assumptions in a question they understand.
