HOW TO WRITE CHAPTE ~ II:~

THE REVIEW OF RELATED

LITERATURE AND STUDIES

(• Contents and Sources of Chapter II

,
A researcher, before he ®nceptualiies the problem of his study,
shoul~ first conduct extensive readings on the problem he has in
mind. He should survey, explore and master existing knowledge and
data which are relevant and useful to his inquiry.
. .
This part of the research report includes literature and studies,
both local and foreign, whiph . are relevant and or .related to the.
research study: ·Writing _the_ review necessitates reading a lot of
materials and spending a lot of time in libraries to be able to fully
immerse oneself in the topic selected. General Information books such
as dictionaries, encyclopedias," almanacs, reference books, theses,
dissirtations~ research journals, handbooks, textbooks, magazines,
survey reports are so~e of the possible sources of related literature
•and studies.

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 The word related means the materials surveyed have a direct
bearing or significant relation to the present study.

•!• Importance of the Review of Related literature

and Studies· . ._.

It is important for a researcher to have .a comprehensive and

. relevant body of supporting materials to his research work. The •
related literature and studies are_ needed for the following reasons:
. .
1. It provi<iles •insight into the theoretical/conceptual background
of the study. •
. .
2. It provides the rationale_ or the framework of the .study. The
theoretical· framework for instance, is obtained or concei;ved
through_ the literature search.

3. Reviewing related materials helps the researcher to gather

val_uable data and· ideas that can guide him in hi~ own
research. . -•
'. '

•4. It prepares the reader .to better assimilate and understand

the concepts of the study and gives him a bird's eye view of
the quality of readmgs the researcher has done in support of
• his study. :

•Reviewing the related literature requires the researcher to make

in-depth readings of both the researc~ ·and. conceptual literature.
Research literature pertains to publish~d or [Link] reports of
actual research studies done previously and usually referred to as
"studies"~ Theses ~nd dissertations are examples of studies.
_Conceptual literature, on the other hru:id, refers to articles, ·or books
. wtjtten by authoriti~ giving their opinions, experiences, theories, or

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 4r--

idea s abou t a give n topi c/ subj ect. In mos t rese arch

studi~s,
conceptual lite~ture is referred to as "literature. ,.

Related literature maybe classified as local, if printed in

the
Philippines and foreign, if printed outside the country. On
the other
hand, related studies are classified as either local, if the stud
y was
done in the Philippines, and or foreign, if the study was done
in other
countries.
•

•!• Initial Steps in Conducting a Literature Search

The related literature and studies are _an integral part of
a
research paper. In conducting the literature search, •the following
initial
steps are suggested:
1. Define the research problem as precisely as possible
to
focus on the specific issue or issues for inquiry.

2. .survey/examine relevant secondary sources of informat

ion
(secondary sources are, those materials in whic h authors
describe the work of others like in the textbooks, reviews
and yearb~oks.)

J. Sele ct ~ppropriate ge~eral refe renc e wor ks. (gen eral

references are thqse. which provide information as to where
to loca te othe r ·sources like,. inde xes and abst ract s of
researches.)
. .
4. ,•Formulate and focus on search items like key words
or
:phrases to make the process of iJ?.quiry more efficient.

5. Search the general references for relevant primary sources

of·
information. (primary sources are publications in whi ch
• people who do research .report the results of their studies.
,. •
•.
\
;
Authors communicate their own findings directly to the
readers like in journal of researches.) •

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 •:• Certain Considerations in Selecting the Related
Literature and Studies
In the course of one's readings, the researcher will face an
enonnous nwnber of materials. Not every surveyed material should be
incl11:ded in chapter II. There are certain considerations in selecting
.materials ~at will be integrated to one's research paper and these are
as follows:

1. The materials must be as recent as possible.

•Du_e to rapid changes in our society, outdated materials

have little value today. The· research to be chosen must not be
older than five (5) yeru-s. The conceptual literatur.e must not be
older thari 10 years. The more recent it is,· the better, especially
if it is a research literature. •

2~ Materials must be objective.

_One ·sidedi.·highly opinioJ?.ated_materials should be avoided.

There should be objectivity in the p~esentation, analysis and
interpretation o( relevant findings. Materials must not manifest
biases against any particul~ religion, group of people, sex, race; J

institution, profession, certain philosophy <?T creed.

. J: · The .
literature and studies to be selected must be relevant
'

.', to the study.

The materials to be chosen must help in the understanding

[Link] research. The [Link] or may not agree with the
• . • I

fii,dirigs of the researcher's 'own study bu~ such agreement or

. disagr~~inent are relevant in enhancing· the value of one's
•research work.
• • I

.. ( • J
l

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 •!• Guidelines in Writing Chapter II
• 1. Only literature and studies which are related in purpose,
method, or findings to the current study should be included.
Carefui reading and analysis of literature and studies are
r ne~essary to determin~ whether or not the materials are
relate~ to the study.

2. ,The discussion of such literature and studies should be in the

fonn· of a briefcritical analysis of the purposes, method of··
study, main findings, and ~onclusioris.

3. Studies containing-the same set of varjables as your study

should be. a priority and essential to the revie~ of literature
and studies. . . . t ., • .

'4. In ~e text, only, the last names of the· authors and the years
of pu~lication are given and enclosed in parentheses. In the
case of citations
. of different works by persons wjth the . .

same surnames, initial& sho~ld be. inclu_ded with the last

names for .Proper identificatio~. . . • .
• I •

5. These literciture and. ~djes should be presente4 properly and .

logically in swnmarized fonris containing only relevant ideas. .
Surnames of the author or authors and the_ year(s) of
publicatio~ mu~t be included i.n parentheses for p~oper
credits. • • • • • '
J ..
6. Presentation should be_orde:rly by ~~~g the mat~al~ by
variables. Arrangement of variables should be based on the
research paradigm. . ..

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 7. The researcher must provide at least five (S) materials for
each of the following: (for a minimum total of20 materials
for Chapter ll).

a. Local Literatw-e
b. Foreign Literature
c. Local Studies
d. Foreign Studies .

8. It is customary to present the local literature first before the

foreign literature and the local studies before the foreign
studies. •

9. Present the related studies by citing, in summary form, the

research methodologies used, the sampling technique, the
respondents, the statistical treatment of data and the major
.fin~ '

•:• Additional Guidelin

.. . .
es. in Presenti
. ng the Related
Materials in Chapter II

. cannot all be included

• Voluminous related literature and. studies
in its entirety in chapter II. Th~ researcher must exercise discernment
in choosing which parts of the materials should be presented and how •
•these can be presented properly and systematically in chapter II. •

The following are some guideline~ to help the researcher

· in presenting his surveyed and selected mat~rials:
' , '

• 1. The researcher can summarize or condense· the contents of

a material by including only the most essenti~l ideas or
findings of a literature or study.
. '

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 2. The researcher can paraphrase or restate in his own words
the most essential points expounded by other authors/
researchers. Long citations, for instance, from other people'
works must be paraphrased.

3. •The researcher can make a logical evaluation or intetpretation

of another person's work and put this evaluation in writing.

4. The researcher can, whenever appropriate, copy, verbatim,

important words of another researcher or autho~, by using
quotation marks. Direct quotations require indicating in
parenthesis, not only the author's surname and the year of
publication but also the page number(s) where the exact
words can be found.

5. Giving proper credits by acknowledging the author's or

researcher's surname, the year of publication, and the page
number(s) for direct quotations, should be observed at all
times.

•!• Sample Entry of a Related Local Literature

Chapter II
.'

This chapter contains the review or related literature and

studies from both local and foreign sources.

Local Literature
.
Hernandez (2003) said that one at the most important concern
is the need to make an employee work force more proficient both in
spoken and written English. Their command of English has to be
superior if they are to make themselves competitive in an industry that

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is hccon1ing n,orc nnd n1orc sclcclivo in its job rccn1iln1cnt. There is
nl~_ the need to nlign conrsc content tmd training progtnms with actltal
ittd\~~try job requircrnents and now recruits arc trained for the right
skills nnd that tl1c con11,any itnproves on its job 111atching pcrfonnancc. •
Another thing is that call center will have to link up with other
[Link] who ofTcr other fonn of costumes contact service.

The custon1ers it setves generally live in the US or in some other

Western country thousands of 1niles across the equator. The agent
tnsked to deal ~ith these customers handle all sorts of calls, from
nnswcring questions about a certain product, noting down complaints,
or troubleshooting or crafting solutions when [Link] service center
in the Philippines, the call center agent will find himself dealing with
foreign clients, again most of whom are Americans. That means that
he does not just need to have finn knowledge of the product or
service he is handling, he must also be able to communicate in a way
that Alnerican customers understand. (Quiason and Aquino-Quiason,
2005) •

•:• Sample Entry of a Related Local Study I

In the study conducted by Cordova [Link] (2004), they investigated

whether there is a significant relationship between absenteeism and
burnout profile of the respondents. The respondents used were college
full time faculty members in· the IAS Department. The researchers used
convenience sampling technique for the respondents. The researchers
used a standardized test nained Burnout Potential Inventory [Link]
by Beverly A. Potter. In regard of Absenteeism the researchers made
use of the list of absences from June 2003 to December 2003 of the
respondents at the Human Resource Development Department. Chi
Square was used in order to detennine the significa~t differences
between burnout profile and demographic variables of the respondents.
Significant erasures n:iay ask important difference with specific domains
of self-concept contributing· to self-esteem. Pearson r was sued to

64
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 .I
determine the significant relationship between burnout profile and
absenteeism of the respondents. The researcher arrived at the result of
r = .9964 where Ho is being rejected. There is significant_ relationship
between burnout profile and absenteeism of the respondents.

•:• The Synthesis. •

The last part. of Chapter II is the synthesis of the review· of

related literature and studies.. The synthesis is usually one of the .
shortest subparts in a research paper but often one of the most
difficult to write.

The synthesis of the related literature and studies must logically

summarize and combine into a coherent whole the surveyed·findings
and ideas of other researchers and authors through th~ researcher's
own words and logic:.l views.

• In other words, the synthesis is not a sll:ffilllary of c~apte~ II. It

. is a part that puts the surveyed materials in a logical perspective, vis
a vis the resea
. rcher
. 's study
. . The researcher will do well if, in his own
·words, he will synthesize .
or [Link] the surveyed major findings
.
apd conclusions by pointing o~t the simi~arities as well .as the
differences be~een his study and those of others.

•:• Guidelines in Writing the Syntliesis

1. The synthesis is written after the surveyed and chosen
materials have been thoroughly read and examined by the
researcher. in t~rms of major findings, conclusions and
. recommendations'of the other authors and researchers.
. ;
2. The synthesis should be concisely written and should not be
more than two pages. A one-page synthesis is usually enough
for most research papers. .

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 3. Very lengthy or complex sentences should be avoided in
writing the synthesis.

4. Brief citations of ideas or findings of other researchers/

authors can be done to enhance the researcher's own logical
views of the entire m~.terials in chapter Il.

7. The synthesis puts-the present study in the context or in the

light of other studies by other researchers. Both similar and
contradictory findings can be placed in th~ synthesis in very
. . .
concise citations.
.......

•:• Sample Syqthesis

The studies presented in this chapter justify that aggression is
evident almost to everyone especially in mal~. According the study
of [Link] and Wells (2001), males were much more likely to report
aggression than females, the same approach why the researchers of
the present study chose males as to be the respondents in the study.
The present study, which deals on aggression of the respondents
towards their opposite sex, has also with similar approach to the studY.
conducted by Mussweiler and Forster (2000). They suggest that the
association of sex-aggression link does exist on earth both for males
and females. In the present study, the interaction of the respondents
wi~ their opposite sex· does contribute to their aggression behavior,
which the researchers measured.

In additjon, the environment and the persons to which an individual '

.
is exposed also added .to the aggressive behavior of a person.
Particularly in school, adolescents tend t~ imitate what he observes
around him and the behavior others manifest. However, aggression can
•also be reduced, just what the stu~y conducted by Metropolitan Area
Child Study Research Group suggested. The combinations of programs

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to where school, IX"''TS. ronmnmity, and the most is family ore involved,
can help to reduce the a~ ve bel1avior of an individual particularly
adolescents and nhtc to manage and handle the behavior ,veil. The
present study also proposed an intervention program, which will greatly
hclp in minimizmg the agsie&, e beha\ior ofan indj,.,idual in dealing \vid1
the opposite sex. (from the thesis of Manigbas, Seno and Esteban,
2006).

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