Literature Review:  A summary of relevant information from studies conducted by others.

Literature Review: An extensive search of the information available on a topic which results in a list of references to books, periodicals, and other materials on the topic. An example of a "literature review"

Ubah, C. (2002, March). A Critical Examination of Empirical Studies of Offender Rehabilitation-Correctional Education: Lessons for the 21st Century. Journal of Correctional Education 53 (1), 13-19. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from Academic Search Complete

Abstract of the literature review: This critique focuses on prison-based post-secondary education. The first study of interest was a 1950 work. That investigation sought to determine the efficacy of a vocational school program in a minimum security prison in terms of failure and success of men on parole and in terms of monetary cost of the program. A 1962 study examined post-release parolee tendencies in relation to their participation or non-participation in prison academic programs. A follow-up study of parolees from a minimum security institution studied the difference in success rates of those who participated in the facility's academic or vocational program and those who did not. The paper concludes that, while the studies reviewed suffer from various defects, they nevertheless seem to show that acquiring correctional education can make a significant difference in parolees' recidivism rates. References

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