The literature review is always the first step in designing a study that will contribute to psychological knowledge. Students often begin with a reference from a textbook or a recommendation from an instructor and then progress to a larger literature review. It is important to obtain a good overview of the questions and methods typically used in your field of interest. The literature review does not need to be exhaustive but should be broad enough to give you a sense of what has been studied in a field and the research strategies that have and have not worked.