2. SELECTING RELEVANT LITERATURE
One of the skills you need to develop in
order to become a successful researcher
is the ability to review and report
relevant literature.
3. What is Literature Review?
Literature review or review of related literature is a
synthesis of different published articles relevant to the
researcher’s main topic which requires proper citation
as credits to the source of ideas that they contain. If
one fails to cite sources, the paper losses its
credibility.
4. Purposes of Review of Related Literature
1. To improve your knowledge and understanding of
your topic
2. To determine what each source contributes to the
topic
5. Purposes of Review of Related Literature
3. To integrate and summarize what is known in a
particular topic
4. To understand the relationship between various
contributions, identify and resolve contradictions,
and determine gaps or unanswered questions
6. How to Evaluate Literature
1. Examine the title. The title should indicate the nature of research
without describing the results.
2. Read the abstract. A good abstract provides you the purpose of
the study, the methods used and its major findings.
3. Read the literature. Start by scanning the whole material and
read the conclusion. This will give a picture of what the literature is
all about.
7. In writing a good literature review, you must be selective
that you only include the most relevant literatures, and be
comprehensive that you include studies that are highly
relevant and not to omit important ones.
8. Sources of Literatures
1. General references- sources that are first accessed by
researchers to give them information about other sources.
Examples: books, monographs, conference proceedings.
2. Primary sources- sources that provides first-hand
information about experts’ and other researchers’
publication. Examples: interviews, observations
9. Sources of Literatures
3. Secondary sources- sources that are written by
authors to describe another researcher’s works.
Examples: textbooks, academic and research
journals
4. Tertiary sources- books and articles based on
secondary sources.
10. Citing Related Literature Using Standard Styles
All the relevant literatures that you have reviewed offer
you concepts and ideas belonging to other people. To
give respect to the owners of those varied forms of
knowledge, you must acknowledge them through proper
citation. Proper citation and referencing standards is a
requirement for all written research projects.
11. Purposes of Citation
1. To give importance and respect to other people for what they
know about the field
2. To give the authority, validity, and credibility to other people’s
claims, conclusions, and arguments
3. To prove your broad and extensive reading of authentic and
relevant materials about your topic
12. Purposes of Citation
4. To help readers find or contact the sources of ideas
easily
5. To permit readers to check the accuracy of your work
6. To save yourself from plagiarism
13. Citation Styles
In this section, we will discuss the three common citation
styles used in academic research:
(1) American Psychological Association (APA),
(2) Modern Language Association (MLA), and
(3) Chicago Manual of Style.
14. 1. APA Style Guide- this citation style is commonly used by Education,
Psychology, and Sciences
In-text citation in APA style
Chapter or Article in Edited Book (Matthews, 1999)
Article in Encyclopedia (Smith, 2017)
Book: Including Page Numbers (Deep, 2009, pp.130-131)
Book: Single Author (Marvin, 2015)
Book: Two authors Research is ……….. (Robinson & Levin, 1997)
Robinson and Levin (1997) discussed……
Book: 3 to 20 authors Learning is …… (Kim et al., 2013) In the subsequent citations, only use the
first author’s surname followed by the words “et al.” which means ‘and
others’ in the parentheses.
Kim et al. (2013) stated…
15. 1. APA Style Guide
In-text citation in APA style
Book: No Author ( The Blackwell Dictionary of Cognitive
Psychology, 1991)
Book: Editor (Snyder, 1999)
Paper Presentation from the Internet (Arceo, 2006)
Associations, corporations, government agencies etc. as an
author.
If the name of an association is the source, it
should be cited as follows: According to
Department of Education (2013)….. However, if
the association has a well-known abbreviation,
the abbreviation in brackets should be included
the first time it appears and then only the
abbreviation in later citations. First citation:
Commission on Higher Education [CHED] (2012)….
Second citation: CHED (2012)……
16. 2. MLA style guide- this citation style is commonly used in Liberal arts and humanities. This style uses
parenthetical citation in citing works of others in the text. It follows the author-page method of in-text citation.
In-text citation in APA style
Author’s surname may appear in
the sentence or in the
parentheses.
Gale stated that the term “abnormal” is misused in a judgmental manner
when people are uncomfortable about something (41).
Page number should always
appear in the parentheses.
Frequently, the word “abnormal” is misused in a judgmental manner when
people are uncomfortable about something (Gale 41).
Author is unknown (“Title with unknown author” 7)
Three authors List down all the surnames (Orleans, Nueva, Espana 66)
Four or more authors (Sta. Romana et al. 66)
17. 3. Chicago Manual of Style- This citation style follows the author-date
format similar to APA style. In a parenthetical citation, author’s name, date
of publication, and page number is put at end of the sentence.
In-text citation in APA style
One author (Teehankee 2011, 115)
Two or more authors (McBurney and White 2004, 52)
Four or more authors (Norman et al. 1998, 60)
18. Synthesizing Information from Relevant Literature
Writing the review of related literature does not only end to selecting relevant
literature and proper citation, but also requires you to combine or synthesize
important ideas and findings from the reviewed literature to provide your reader a
better understanding about your topic.
To synthesis is to make conclusions about your findings in related literature
reviewed so that you will know how your references helped you address your
research questions.
19. What is a synthesis?
Synthesis is the combining of literatures from different sources to
create a structured review of related literature.
All the ideas gathered will be presented, organized and
summarized in the syntheses.
When synthesizing, your ability to infer relationships like
comparing characteristics of one object to another will be helpful.
20. Type of Syntheses
Explanatory synthesis - present facts in an objective
manner , explain the similarities and differences
between two texts that cover the same topic
2. Argument synthesis. This type of synthesis is used
when you want to present your point of view. This can
be supported by presenting facts in a logical manner.
21. How to write a synthesis?
The following are ways to write a synthesis (Prieto et al. 2017)
1. Consider your purpose in writing
2. Select and read carefully your sources according to your purpose.
3. Formulate a thesis.
4. Decide how you will use source
5. Develop an organizational plan according to your thesis
6. Write the first draft of synthesis
7. Revise your synthesis
22. Categories of Sources
Fraenkel (2015) as cited by Prieto et al. (2017), enumerated the
categories of sources from where you culled data and information in
the literature review:
1. Documents. These references maybe published or unpublished
references, original works or copies and other written or printed
materials such as books, reports, etc.
2. Numerical Records. These include test scores, census reports,
school budget and attendance figures.
23. Categories of Sources
Fraenkel (2015) as cited by Prieto et al. (2017), enumerated the
categories of sources from where you culled data and information in
the literature review:
3. Oral Statements. These include stories, myths, legends, chants,
songs, etc. These materials leave a record for future generations.
4. Relics. These are formal types of historical sources such as
furniture artwork, clothing, building, and equipment.