Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature Week 8
Content Standards
The learner demonstrates understanding of:
The criteria in selecting, citing, and synthesizing related literature
Ethical standards in writing related literature
Performance Standards
The learner is able to:
Select, cite, and synthesize properly related literature
Use sources according to ethical standards 3. present written review of related literature
Most Essential Competencies
The learner should be able to:
Selects relevant literature
Cites related literature using standard style
Synthesizes information from relevant literature
Writes coherent review of literature
Follows ethical standards in writing related literature
Lesson Presentation/Discussion
Lesson 1: The Criteria in Selecting, Citing, and Synthesizing Related Literature
Lesson 2: Ethical Standards in Writing Related Literature
I. The Criteria in Selecting, Citing, and Synthesizing Related Literature
TERMINOLOGIES
CITATIONS – a line or short section taken from a piece of writing or a speech
CORROBORATES – to support or help prove (a statement, theory, etc.) by providing information or
evidence.
HYPOTHESIS – an idea or theory that is not proven but that leads to further study or discussion
PLAGIARISM – the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person
Practical Research 1 Page 1 of 5
Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature Week 8
Related Literature
A review of related literature is the process of reading, collecting, and selecting books, journals,
encyclopedias, magazines, and newspapers in order to be included among the facts and principles that are
related to the study. In reviewing related literature you should look for the major concepts, conclusions,
theories, and arguments that underlie the work. This is difficult when you first start reading, but should become
easier the more you read about the topic.
You should start reviewing related literature as early as the conceptualization of the research project. In
this manner, you would already be guided from the start on the definition of the research problem by noting
the key variables specified in the objectives on the study. The theories that are needed to explain the research
problem and used as basis in analyzing relationships between variables can be generated from the review of
related literature.
Read with a purpose: you need to summarize the work you read but you must also decide which ideas
or information are important to your research (so you can emphasize them), and which are less important and
can be covered briefly or left out of your review.
In doing this, it is advised that the researcher should have a list of the search terms or key words or
phrases coming from the title and the hypothesis in order that unrelated literature may not be included. The
study on the job satisfaction and job performance as earlier mentioned would have “job satisfaction” and “job
performance” as key terms.
The format of a review of literature may vary from on institution to another and from discipline to
discipline. In presenting the reviewed of literature, it is important that you present the concepts or principles in
such a way that there is a continuity as if you are recounting what the different authors said in a continuous
manner. You might start by saying that “Mendoza (2011) defines...” for the next paragraph, you might continue
with “On the other hand (Cruz, 2006) included ...” The third paragraph would continue with “Reyes (2007)
corroborates Cruz’s idea emphasizing that...” you can continue using several phrases indicating continuity of
the concepts and ideas of the different authors, until you reach the last author by saying: “Finally...was given
emphasis by Ada (2008) with a very clear presentation of ...” you may use your creativity in presenting the
related literature but be careful not to violate the basic rule in Research Writing which is the use of friendly and
simple terms.
Practical Research 1 Page 2 of 5
Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature Week 8
Related Studies
This part of research is composed of studies, inquiries and investigations already conducted to which
your study is related. These are usually taken from the theses and dissertations which are generally
unpublished. This is done for the purpose of identifying related research, to set current project within a
conceptual and theoretical context.
The review of related studies should be done at the beginning of the conceptualization of the research
project. In this manner, you would be aided in determining the variables to be included, the direction of the
study and to determine whether there is still a need to conduct the research along that line.
You should organize your related studies using time and author as the organizing system. You may use
time to arrange your reviewed studies chronologically if developments over time as crucial to explain the
context of your research problem. Present and organize the related studies alphabetically by author name if
your intention is to show the relationships between the work of different researchers and your work by
looking for similarities and differences.
In presenting related studies, as in the related literature, do it in such a manner that you are recounting
the findings and concepts with continuity. Look for major concepts, conclusions, theories, and arguments, etc.,
that underlie the work and look for similarities and differences with closely related studies and your study.
Terms like agrees, substantiates, upholds, corroborates, backs up, supports, confirms, emphasizes,
nevertheless, similarly, on the other hand, however, refute, contests, contradicts, validates, further, insists,
stresses, underlines, highlights, underscores and many more may be used to established continuity and
emphasize the similarities and differences.
While reviewing the related studies, you should not forget to take note of the bibliographical data which
include the author, title, date of publication, name of publication, and the pages of the article. You will need
these later for inclusion of Bibliography. Then, look for the key points to be used in your full review: the
problem, the objectives, and the hypothesis, the major findings and the conclusions of the study. Remember
you are not doing review of related literature and studies for the purpose of showing what other authors and
researchers have done. You are doing it for the reasons as already indicated above. Make sure that your
references are the most recent for both literature and studies. As a rule, there should be no citations of more
than ten years ago.
II. Ethical Standards in Writing Related Literature
Practical Research 1 Page 3 of 5
Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature Week 8
As mentioned in the previous lessons, ethics should be applied in all stages of research from the
planning, to gathering of data, to the analysis and interpretation, and in the evaluation (oral
examination) of the research. Ethics should therefore be applied even in writing related literature and
studies.
To ensure this, researchers must strictly observe the following:
1. To report their findings with complete honesty;
2. Not to misrepresent, misinform, mislead and/or intentionally misinterpret;
3. Give appropriate credit when using the other people’s work; and
4. Avoid plagiarism by fully acknowledging all content belonging to others.
What is plagiarism? You need to be very careful that you do not claim someone else’s work as your own.
Do not “cut and paste” others’ work to form ideas. This is unfortunately getting easier with the use of electronic
databases and information on the web. Do not be tempted to simply cut the paragraphs (or more) out of other
documents. If you do, make sure you appropriately cite this material. Plagiarism can result to failure of the
subject or failure in the class. Therefore, you need to be very careful when using material from others to ensure
that it is adequately referenced.
To do’s
Activity/Application.
Using a Venn diagram below, give the similarities and differences of related literature to related studies.
Quizzes/Evaluation
Practical Research 1 Page 4 of 5
Learning from Others and Reviewing the Literature Week 8
Essay: Elucidate and explain the following:
1. Give 5 purpose of review of related literature and studies and explain each purpose.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Make your own version of procedure on how you will write your review of related literature and
studies.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do we need to give credits or use the referencing when writing the review of related literature
and studies?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion/Summary
- These topics will help you develop your expertise in using related literature and studies for the purpose
of improving the research paper while at the same time considering ethical standards in the use of
such related literature and studies.
References and Supplementary Materials
Online Instructional Videos
1. Communication Process: [Link]
Practical Research 1 Page 5 of 5