07/12/2025
From my inbox 📥
Hi Juliet, at what point is gap analysis, (such as knowledge, methodological, theoretical, and empirical gaps) required when writing the literature review?
My Response 👇🏽
Hi scholar, the literature review is the process of identifying the gaps.
There are different types of gaps as you have already noted.
When reviewing the literature, you are not only describing what has been done by others.
You go further to look at where the gaps are in existing knowledge.
So there’s really no reason to say at this point of literature review you apply so and so gap analysis.
The gap analysis IS the literature review.
Without the gap analysis, you have only done what I’ll call “literature description” not “literature review“.
Now, the type of gap you highlight in the your review, totally depends on certain factors: what you find, your research question or what you want to contribute to the field.
For instance, I started out my research keen to highlight African ways of knowing (which is methodological).
When reviewing the literature, I carefully identified that there are very few African methodologies used in topics that concern Africans.
I showed examples of such studies (this is description) and showed where they lacked the use of African methodologies (this is review).
Then I emphasised that there is need for more studies by, for, and with Africans to adopt African methodologies.
Now that is a gap analysis.
And a methodological gap at that.
I hope this helps 🙏🏾
Scholarly love 💕
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This question was from a new researcher taking the Research coaching program. Get it here: selar.com/AHRBootcamp
