haha another mixed methods question (!) this time on structure.

I have an exploratory design to my thesis - so my 3rd study builds on ideas that were identified in my previous studies. However, my sup wants me to put all the literature from my chapter on the 3rd study, in my lit review. I think this doesn't make sense because it comes across like I always thought I'd do this study, whereas in fact it was only because of things that came out of the 1st study and therefore there should be a brief overview (say 300 words) about the topic area of study 3 in the lit review, but the majority of related literature shoud be in the chapter, no in the lit review.

So am I right or wrong?

don't think you are right or wrong really. Perhaps it depends upon the way you have structured your lit review? mine also builds on the preliminary chapters, in that there are two foundation chapters which provide material for the rest. I have stated this in the lit review and have reviewed the material on the first two chapters as I went along (I'm writing up the second of the chapters at the moment.) and that is the way I am doing the rest. What I will do next is note that the material required after those chapters is based on the findings in the first two and I will show how I located and decided which lit I would be using for the other chapters based on the findings of those two foundation ones. The literature selection for the chapters will all be in the lit review, but the process of finding and selecting the material for them will be shown to have depended upon the results of the first two chapters. Or... could you write a conclusion for the two studies and then start again for the third with its own lit review etc. to show that the third study emerged from the results of the other two?