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Learning from Others and Reviewing the

Literature
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Select relevant literature;
2. Cite related literature using standard style (APA, MLA or Chicago Manual
of Style);
3. Synthesize information from relevant literature;
4. Write coherent review of literature;
5. Follow ethical standards in writing related literature;
6. Present written review of literature.

When we take an interest in how people obtain knowledge about their

everyday lives, we are beginning to address what is usually called as
qualitative inquiry. Human inquiry is qualitative when it concerns the how of
our lives: How do we experience the world? How do we accomplish everyday
acts such as producing or consuming objects, or educating the young?
Qualitative methods throw light on the qualities of experience, actions, and
emotions (Brinkman, 2012).

Relevant Literature
Related literature is composed of discussions of facts and principles to
which the present study is related. These materials are usually printed and
found in books, encyclopedias, professional journals, magazines, newspapers,
and other publications classified from local (printed in the Philippines) to
foreign (printed abroad). On the other hand, related studies are researches,
inquiries or investigations already conducted to which the present proposed
study is related or has some bearing or similarity. They are usually
unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses and dissertations
classified as local (conducted in the Philippines) or foreign (conducted
abroad) (Calderon & Gonzales, 2008).

Characteristics of Related Literature and Studies

Reliability and truthfulness of related materials must not be compromised in
any research inquiry. Hence, Calderon and Gonzales (2008) list down the
necessary considerations in surveying related literature and studies.
1. The surveyed materials must be as recent as possible. The social,
economic, scientific, and technological changes are rapidly developing, so
the findings several years ago may be of little value today because of the
fast changing lifestyle of the people.

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 2. Materials reviewed must be objective and unbiased. Some materials
are extremely or subtly one sided, either political or religious, etc. which
may lead to distorted generalizations.
3. Materials surveyed must be relevant to the study. Only materials that
have some bearing or similarity to the research problem at hand should
be reviewed.
4. Surveyed materials must have been based on genuinely original and
true facts or data to make them valid and reliable. For the purposes
of evaluating credibility and usefulness of resources you it is advisable to
use the library and internet resources. Since many students depend on
the internet, clear evaluative criteria must be observed. Some internet
sources are easily alterable where anyone can construct and publish a
web site. On the other hand, some print materials found in the library
can be self-published as well. The best way to find the most reliable
perspectives for your research is to search and compare diverse types of
sources.
5. Reviewed materials must not be too few or too many. They must only
be sufficient enough to give insight into the research problem or to
indicate the nature of the present investigation. The number may also
depend on the availability of related materials.

Types of Sources (Miller-Cochran& Rodrigo, 2014)

 Static. They are only published once, although they may be
redeveloped as other editions. Examples: books, paintings, films and
basic html coded web sites.
 Syndicated. They are released over time under the same general
title. Examples: periodicals (magazine and journals), television shows,
blogs and podcasts.
 Dynamic. They are never permanently published in a final form. If
there are repeat performances or publications, they are different
every time. Examples: play and other live performances, wiki
publications; and field research (observations, interviews, and
surveys).

Standard Styles of Related Literature

A well-written research paper is not only backed up with relevant literature
but also correct, complete and proper citation of its sources. Researcher must
respect the intellectual property and effort of other researchers or writers by
acknowledging their works in correct format.
There are three reasons to cite the materials you use (Lipson, 2011):
1. To give credit to others’ work and ideas whether you agree with them or
not. When you use their words, you must give them credit by using both
quotation marks and citation.
2. To show readers the materials on which you base your analysis, your
narrative or your conclusion.
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3. To guide readers to the materials you have used so that they can examine
it for themselves. Their interest might be to confirm your work, to
challenge it, or simply to explore it further.

Three Major Citation Styles (Lipson, 2011)

Chicago Manual Style Modern Language American
Association (MLA) Psychological
(CMS)
Association (APA)

Used by history scholars Used in humanities, Used in social

Two types: literature and sciences, psychology,
 One designed for languages education, and
humanities business
 One designed for
social sciences

Decide the appropriate citation style for your research. Make sure you use
this particular style in your in-text citation and full bibliographic citation.
Every idea, quotation and piece of information that you take from another
source should be included in your in-text citation. While, the end page of your
research paper, the reference page or bibliography, must have a list of
references, or works cited list. This will provide information and resources
for your readers in case they would like to follow up and discover more
information about your topic for themselves.
For the citation details and specific format of these three citation styles, you
may view their complete comparison by Purdue OWL: Citation Style Chart at
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/949/01/

Synthesizing the Relevant Literature

Gathering and collecting the relevant and credible materials for the related
literature could be overwhelming for young researchers like you. Hence,
Casela and Cuevas (2010) explain specific guidelines to produce a coherent
related literature.
1. Organize the surveyed information in terms of importance by
determining the highly relevant to the least essential points.
2. Classify and identify the appropriate categories, relationship, similarities,
of both local and international studies.
3. Present the literature according to chronological or logical order, from
the most recent to the earliest time of development.
4. Analyze their respective content, facts, findings, methods, concepts and
implications. Cite properly all relevant literature into a meaningful whole.
5. Summarize and/or paraphrase through synthesizing the information Do
not simply narrate or report the studies over the years; do not simply

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 trace the development or reiterate the writer’s ideas. Instead, summarize
by indicating the implication of the literature to one’s problem.
6. Avoid misinterpretation or distortion of the writer’s original meaning by
direct quotation.
7. Apply in-text citation for paraphrased or quoted sources. Refer to the
citation style chart presented earlier.
8. Synthesize into holistic body of content or in one relevant discussion.

Writing the Review of Related Literature

Writing starts from the moment you start the surveying the related literatur e
for your research. It is expected that while you are reading, collecting, and
synthesizing them, you are actually writing all the important information
including the ones needed for the citation and bibliography. In doing this, you
must focus on the focus and argument of your research, not on the related
literature that you are collecting.
In this part, you need to shape a logical and effective report of a literature
review. This must be done systematically to achieve coherence and
understanding in explaining further the topic of your research.
1. Introduction. The introduction should identify the topic, its significance,
and the thesis statement that outlines what conclusion yo u will draw
from your analysis and synthesis of the literature. If your literature
review is part of a larger work, explain the importance of the review to
your research questions. In other words, engage in a dialogue with the
literature; do not just provide a summary.
2. Body. In the body, discuss and assess the research according to specific
organizational principles (refer to the table below), rather than
addressing each source separately. Most of the paragraphs here should
discuss more than one source. Avoid addressing your sources
alphabetically as this does not assist in developing the themes or key
issues central to your review.

Organizational Principles Description

This is used to explain historical
A. Chronology
changes or perspectives. The
literature is written according to
the dates of the studies or
findings, from the oldest to the
most recent.
This is used to explain ideas
B. Theme
according to their respective
premise. Issues are classified
based on their closest relevance
to the research topic.
This is used to connect the
C. Sector
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research topic to different

backgrounds (i.e. political,
methodological, geographical,
literary). Interdisciplinary
discussion becomes more
comprehensive through this
principle.
This is used to discuss the stages
D. Development of ideas
of ideas that are developing in the
research topic or inquiry. This
illustrates the development of
ideas like a snowball.
This is used as per the discretion and
E. Combination of all
analysis of the researcher. Some
research topics need the
combination of all of these principles
to organize the related literature.

3. Conclusion. It should provide a summary of the findings from the

literature review. Explain what your analysis of the material leads you to
conclude about the overall state of the literature; what it provides; and
where it is lacking.

Ethical Standards in Writing the Review of Related Literature (RRL)

Ethics in research was discussed previously but specific concerns on the
ethical standards in writing the RRL needs to be discussed separately.
Generally, researchers are expected to be honest and responsible in
reporting their research findings. They must avoid misrepresent, misinform,
mislead, and/or intentionally misinterpret the content of their related
literature. In doing this, they need to give appropriate credit when using
other people’s work. Apparently, researchers today are challenged by issues
on ethical standards particularly the protection of privacy in light of
advances in technology and internet capabilities.

Research Misconduct
According to the Office of Research Integrity (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services), research misconduct means Fabrication, Falsification, or
Plagiarism (FFP) in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in
reporting research results.
A. Fabrication is making up data or results and recording or reporting
them.
B. Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or
processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research
is not accurately represented in the research record.

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 C. Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes,
results, or words without giving appropriate credit.
This is discussed further by Sharma and Singh (2011) which is usually
involving the use of writings belonging to others.
 Self-plagiarism is copying of part of own previous published study by
a scientist/expert/researcher/writer without appropriate citation. It
is not tolerable in academic writing because authors are supposed to
mention closely related previous work in appropriate manner.
 The work already published by an author becomes a property of
scientific medical literature in actual sense and cannot be duplicated.
 The use of sentence/s from published medical literature with minor
modification in word structure without attribution is also plagiarism.
 Using published photos or images without written permission is also
considered as plagiarism. Easy availability of private computers and
the internet has increased the use of copy and paste method of writing
by young authors.
 Any statement that contains a fact that is not universally known or
contains factual details should be referenced.
 Scientific misconduct (fabrication and falsification of data) is now
beginning to be considered similar to other criminal offences and
often committed by the same offender.

Activities and Exercises

I. Identify the following materials by choosing the correct letter.

A. Static B. Syndicated C. Dynamic

________1. Live concert
________2. Food blog
________3. Research journal
________4. Theatrical play
________5. Official website
________6. Spolarium by Juan Luna
________7. Discovery Channel
________8. Research survey
________9. Braveheart (starred and produced by Mel Gibson)
________10. Textbooks

II. Identify the citation format used in the following references by

writing CMS, APA or MLA.
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1. Weinstein, Joshua I. "The Market in Plato’sRepublic." Classical

Philology 104 (2009): 439–58.
2. Alibali, M. W. (1999). How children change their minds: Strategy
change can be gradual or abrupt. Developmental Psychology,
35,127-145.
3. Milken, Michael, et al. "On Global Warming and Financial
Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 4, 2006, p.
63.
4. Google. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 11, 2009.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.
5. The World Famous Hot Dog Site. (1999, July 7). Retrieved January
5, 2008, from http://www.xroads.com/~tcs/hotdog/hotdog.html
6. Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring
Ways of Climatology. Springer, 2005.
7. Baxter, C. (1997). Race equality in health care and
education.Philadelphia: Ballière Tindall.
8. Pollan, Michael. 2006. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History
of Four Meals. New York: Penguin.
9. Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis
Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1 June 2006,
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-
2006. Accessed 15 June 2016.
10. An Inconvenient Truth. Directed by Davis Guggenheim,
performances by Al Gore and Billy West, Paramount, 2006.

III. Name the research misconduct performed in the following situations

by writing the letter of the correct answer.

A. Fabrication
B. Falsification
C. Plagiarism

1. A director didn’t cite the name of the playwright he used in the contest.
2. She changed the gender of the participant to complete the all male survey.
3. The research assistant wrote an anonymous name in the list.
4. He stole the recipe from the chef.
5. The researcher declared she interviewed the resource person even if she
didn’t.
6. The researcher manipulated the results of the study.
7. The researcher invented the results of the study.
8. The researcher copied the results of the study from another thesis.
9. The bibliography is incomplete.
10. She hastily distorted the statistical computation of the data to finish her
paper on time.

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Glossary
Blog is a web site where entries are published over time and usually
organized chronologically (Miller-Cochran& Rodrigo, 2014).
Podcasts are audio files that are published in installments. They operate
almost like an audio version of a magazine or blog (Miller-Cochran& Rodrigo,
2014).
Wikis are software applications that allow users to create and edit pages
easily, often in a collaborative environment. Not all wikis are public, and not
all wikis that can be viewed online are open for editing by the general public
(Miller-Cochran& Rodrigo, 2014).

References
Brinkmann, S. (2012). Qualitative inquiry in everyday life. City Road, London:
Sage Publications
Calderon, J. & Gonzales, E. (2008). Methods of research and thesis writing.
Mandaluyong, Philippines: National Book Store
Definition of research misconduct (n.d.). Office of Research Integrity U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on October 26,
2016 from
http://ori.dhhs.gov/misconduct/definition_misconduct.shtml
Lipson, C. (2011). Cite right a quick guide to citation styles – MLA, APA,
Chicago, the sciences profession, and more. USA: The University of
Chicago Press, Ltd.
Miller-Cochran, S. & Rodrigo, R. (2014). The Wadsworth guide to research.
USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
Sharma, B. B. & Singh, V. (April-June, 2011). Ethics in writing: Learning to
stay away from plagiarism and scientific misconduct. Lung India, 28(2), 148–
150.