Speaking about the research methods of criminal justice we should mention two instruments which are usually considered to be the most important ones such as literature review and an annotated bibliography. It is important to conduct thorough analysis of these two terms in order to receive clear understanding and compare them with each other. For this end we should present definitions of literature review and annotated bibliography and then differentiate these terms. As the results of our research appropriate conclusions are to be formulated.
Literature review
The purpose of literature review is to provide an analysis of previous reports which are already published relating to the particular topic. It points out some different approaches on revealing patterns of the conducted research. A literature review is either introductory paragraph of research report, article or extensive review of any relevant research. The format of this mechanism is usually a bibliographic essay. Sources should be cited within the document body. The topic is to be formulated and defined as introduction of this paper. The introductory part is to include overall formulation of purposes and structure of the review. The body of the review should be organized in paragraphs and sub-paragraphs. The author of the literature review should discuss pros and cons of each article and provide thorough comparison of publications. He should define the importance of each article. The conclusion should summarize the main findings and list of references should include citing of the all articles analyzed.
In criminal justice the literature review is aimed at defining the central researchers on the given subject, the overall focus of the research, identifying methodologies used by different authors, providing list of appropriate sources which may be used while conducting the research. In general such review also purports to frame the current investigation.
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated bibliography is considered as a list of books relating to particular subject that is to be analyzed. Each citation should be followed by descriptive paragraph, a kind of annotation. And the purpose of the annotation lies within informing of relevance of research conducted. While creating annotated bibliography it is important to apply different kinds of analysis. The annotation should include the main topic discussed, comparison of this work with previous ones. Annotated bibliography is used in criminal justice when it is necessary to appraise the document, article or book critically. It is aimed at providing the researchers with full description of the situation described in the particular source.
We need to compare these two mechanisms used in criminal justice. Both annotated bibliographies and literature reviews serve as quite comprehensive collections of appropriate sources which is particular for each case. Whereas annotated bibliography provides the reader with brief explanations for each source, literature review is mainly aimed at summarizing the crucial works in the sphere without detailed description. In annotated bibliography sources are alphabetically arranged in contrast to literature review where sources are integrated according to the topic. The formal citation style is used to cite one or another single source such as APA, MLA. It is quite different in literature review. An annotated bibliography also gives reader opportunity to study all the sources more thoroughly and choose the most relevant data.
Conclusion
As the result of our study we defined two mechanisms of criminal justice that are commonly used. Due to the format of this work mostly general overview was given, but at the same time the meanings of annotated bibliography and literature review were explained in details in order to receive better understanding. The comparison is also sufficient enough to find out the main differences between these two terms. It is clear that each of these mechanisms has its pros and cons. The instrument to be chosen depends on particular situation and objectives of the case in the field of criminal justice.
References
Clyne, A. (2009). Literature review VS Annotated bibliography. Law science, 51-65.
Williamson, B. (2010, February). Comparing the mechanisms of criminal justice. London: TRO.
