III.

Learning Area: READING ON RELATED STUDIES

The Review of Literature is the process of compiling, classifying and

evaluating what other researchers have written on a certain topic.
Literature review is integral part of entire research process and makes
valuable contribution to every operational step.

Functions of Review of Literature and studies

1. To provide justification of the study

2. To identify gaps, problems and needs of the related studies
3. To provide rationale of the study as well as the reasons of
conducting the study.
4. To have basis that will be used to support findings of the study

Procedure for reviewing the literature:

i) search for existing literature in your area of study;

ii) Review the literature selected;

iii) Develop a theoretical framework;

iv) Develop a conceptual framework.

Search for existing literature:

-To effectively search for literature in your field of enquiry, it is

imperative that you have in mind at least some idea of broad subject area
and of the problem you wish to investigate, in order to set parameters for
your search.

Next compile a bibliography for this broad area. Sources are:

 BOOKS comprise a central part of any bibliography. Examine

their content, if contents are not found to be relevant to your
topic, delete it from your reading list.

 JOURNALS provide you with the most up-to-date information,

even though there is a gap of two to three years between the
completion of a research project and the publication in a
journal.

Review the literature selected:

After identifying books and articles as useful, the next step is to start
reading them critically to pull together themes and issues that are
associated.

1. Read critically with particular reference to the following aspects:

2. Note whether the knowledge relevant to your theoretical framework
is confirmed beyond doubt.
3. Note the theories put forward, the criticisms of these and their
basis, the methodologies adopted and the criticisms of them.
4. Examine to what extent the findings can be generalized to other
situations. Ascertain the areas in which little or nothing is known-the
gaps that exist in the body of knowledge.

Characteristics of the Materials cited

Sarno (2010) enumerated the different characteristics of the literature and

studies to be cite in the present study:

1. The materials must be as recent as possible, maybe 10 years back

2. Materials must be as object and unbiased as possible
3. Materials must be relevant to the study
4. Coherence principle muse be observed in writing literature review.

Citation Style Guide

Reference is an important part of a research paper. It must be consistent

and easy to read across different papers. Different subjects prefer to use
different formats. Referencing is a method used to demonstrate to the
readers that you have conducted a thorough and appropriate literature
search and reading.

1. APA (American Psychological Association). APA is an

author/date-based style. This means emphasis is placed on the
author and the date of a piece of work to uniquely identify it. Most
of the education researches and social sciences used APA
referencing.

2. MLA (Modern Language Association). MLA is most often applied

by the arts and humanities, particularly in the USA. It is arguably the
most well used of all of the citation styles.
3. Harvard. Harvard is very similar to APA. Where APA is primarily
used in USA, Harvard referencing is the most well used referencing
style in UK and Australia, and is encouraged for used with the
humanities.
 4. Vancouver. The Vancouver system is mainly used in medical and
scientific papers.
5. Chicago and Turabian. These are two separate styles but are very
similar just like Harvard and APA. These are widely used for history
and economics.

In-Text Citation

The University of Waikato released handout on how to use APA reference

format.

 Direct quotation – used quotation marks around the quote and

include page number.
Example:
Samovar and Porter (1997) point out that “language involves
attaching meaning to symbols” (p.188)

 Indirect quotation/paraphrasing – no quotation marks

Example:
Attaching meaning to symbols is considered to be the origin of
written language (Samovar & Porter, 1997).

 Citations from a secondary source

Example:
As Hall (1977) asserts, “culture also defines boundaries of
different group” as cited in Samovar & Porter, 1997, p.14

APA Examples of References by Type

In a reference list In-text citation
1. Book with one author (King, 2000) or King
King, M. (2000). Wrestling with the angel: A Life of (2000) compares
Janet Frame. Auckland, New Zealand:Viking Frame…
2. Books with two authors
Dancey, C,P., & Reidy, J. (2004). Statistics (Dancey & Reidy, 2004) or
without Maths for psychology: Using SPSS for Dancey and Reidy (2004) said…
Windows (3 ed.) .Harlow, England:
rd

Pearson/Prentice Hall.
3. Book with three to five authors (Krause, Bochner, &
Duchesne, 2006)
Krause, K-L., Bochner, S., & Duchesne, D. If used first time then in
(2006). Educational psychology for learning subsequent citation,
and teaching (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Vic., (Krause et al., 2006)
Australia: Thomson.
4. Book or report by a corporate author e.g. (University of Waiko,
organization, association, government 1967)
 department

University of Waikato. (1967). First hall of

residence (Information series No. 3).
Hamilton, New Zealand: Author.
5. Conference paper online (Bochner, 1996) or
According to Bochner
Bochner, S. (1996, November). Mentoring in (1996) …
Higher education: Issues to be addressed in
developing a mentoring program. Paper
presented at the Australian Association for
Research in Education Conference, Singapore.
Retrieved from
http://www.aare.edu.au/96pap/bochs96018.tx
t
6. Course Handout/Lecture notes (Salter, 2007)
Salter, G. (2007). Lecture 3: SPLS205-
07A[Powerpoint Slides]. Hamilton, New
Zealand: University of Waikato.
7. Film (Zhang, 2000)
Zhang, Y. (Producer/Director). (2000). Not one
less [Motion Picture]. China: Columbia
Pictures
8. Journal article – academic/ scholarly ( print (Gibbs, 2005) or Gibbs
version) (2005) contradicts…
Gibbs, M. (2005). The right to development
and indigenous peoples: Lessons from New
Zealand. World Development, 33(8), 1365-
1378.
9. Journal article – academic/ scholarly (Internet (Snell& Hodgetts, n.d.)
only- no print version) or Snell& Hodgetts
Snell, D., & Hodgetts, D. (n.d.). The (n.d.) suggest “…” (para.
psychology of heavy metal communities and 3)
white supremacy. Te Kura Kete Aronui, 1.
Retrieved from
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfassttka
10. Magazine article – (Goodwin, 2002) or
popular/trade/general interest Goodwin (2002)
Goodwin, D.K. (2002, February 4) How I defends…
caused that story. Time, 159 (5), 69.
11. Newspaper article – (Print version) (Hartevelt, 2007)
Hartevelt, J. (2007, December 20). Boy
racers. The Press, p. 3.
12. Personal Communication (letter, (H. Clarke , personal
telephone, conversations, emails, interviews) communication, March
 19, 2008)
13. Thesis – Institutional or personal (Dewstow, 2006) or
webpage – outside the US Dewstow (2006)
Dewstow, R.A. (20016). Using the internet to identified…
enhance teaching at the University of
Waikato (Master’s thesis, University of
Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.) Retrieved
from http://researchcommons. Waikato.
Ac.nz/handle/10289/224
http://www.chicagomanualof style.org/tools_citationguide.html

Research Ethics

Science writing can be a complex and arduous process, for it

simultaneously demands clarity and conciseness; two elements that often
clash with each other (Roig, 2002). In the same concept paper, Roig
further mentions the general principle underlying ethical writing the
notion that the written work of an author, be it a manuscript for magazine
or scientific journal, a research paper submitted for a course, or a grant
proposal submitted to funding agency, represents an implicit contract
between the author of that work and its reader

“Ethical writing is clear, accurate, fair and honest” as mentioned by

Kolin (2002).

Basic Principles of Ethical Practice

The University of Leicester (2010) enumerated basic principles of

ethical research practice. Knowing what constitutes ethical research is
important for all people who conduct research project or use and apply
the results from research findings.

1. Obtained informed consent from participants

o Informed consent must be given to the research participants
before they will be subjected for the research. In the case of
minors, parents or guardians must be fully aware of the said
activity. For native speakers, informed consents must be
translated in their dialect.
2. There should be no pressure on individuals to participate
o Incentives to take part should generally not be provided. If an
incentive is used it needs to be only a token, not enough to
encourage someone who would really prefer not to take part.
3. Respect Individual Autonomy
o Autonomy means the freedom to decide what to do. Even
when someone has signed a Consent Form, they must be
made aware that they are free to withdraw from the study at
anytime, without giving reason. They must also be able to
request that the data they have given be removed from the
study.
4. Avoid causing harm
o The duty of the researcher is not to cause harm. The
researcher must make sure that the principle of voluntary
participation is observed in situations where there is
interaction with subjects.
5. Maintain Anonymity and confidentiality
o Making data ‘anonymous’ means removing the contributor’s
name. However, you will often need to take more than this
basic step to protect a participant’s identity. Other information
can help to identify people, for example” job title, age,
gender, length of service, membership in clubs and strongly
expressed opinions. The more pieces of information that are
presented together, the easier it is to identify someone.
6. Take particular care in research with vulnerable group
o Think about vulnerability in its widest sense. Care is clearly
needed in research with young children, and with people with
disability or minors. However, others may be vulnerable in
certain contexts, for example: Students, Employees,
dependents or people with particular traits that could be
subject to prejudice.