5.1.

FUNDAMENTALS OF REVIEW OF LITERATURE

 
Review of related literature is that part of a research report wherein concepts, ideas,
theories and studies related to the present investigation are examined.
 
Purpose of the Review
 
Provide the thesis writer with theoretical background information of what is already
known on the area of interest and what still needs to be done for his research
undertaking.
 
It gives him ample research possibilities by which to expand, modifies, and improves
parts of his planned study to make it more novel and noteworthy.
 
It also opens up avenues of rich ideas to the reader who are interested in undertaking a
similar project for his own study or for some other purposes.
 
The review will enable the researcher to avoid duplicating or doing the same study that
was already done before.
 
The researcher will be helped in developing various parts of his study such as definition
of problems, research design, data gathering techniques and instrument, statistical
tools, and form and style of report presentation.
 
The review will help the researcher in the interpretation of results or findings of his
investigation.
 
The review provides the researcher the weaknesses and problems of previous
studies so that this will give him idea on   how to handle or avoid the same
problems that he may encounter in his own study.
 
The Review of Literature includes Conceptual Literature/Related Literature
and Research Literature/Research Studies
 
Conceptual literature/Related Literature
 
Conceptual literature refers to articles or books written by authorities giving their
opinions, experiences, theories, or ideas of what is good and bad, desirable and
undesirable within the problem area.
 
Beginning researcher may start reviewing conceptual literature since it is more readily
available than the research literature.
 
Encyclopedias, books, and yearbooks may be a good source of conceptual                  
literature.
 
  
Research Literature/Research Studies
 
These are published or unpublished reports or actual research studies done previously
that are related to the present investigation.
 
Abstracts do help researchers in their search for research literature.
 
Theses and dissertations are valuable sources of research literature
 
 
5.2 CRITICAL REVIEW OF CONCEPTUAL AND RESEARCH
LITERATURE
 
Analyzing, Organizing and Reporting Literature
 
1. Make an outline. First, identify the main topics and the order in which they should
be presented.
 
       For example, the outline of the review for the problem concerned with Effectiveness
of Financial management/ Marketing management begin with the headings:
 
       Literature on Effectiveness of Financial management /Marketing Management and
Literature on the variables to measure the financial management/marketing
management, then the relationships between/among the variables
 
The next step is to differentiate each major heading into logical subheadings. The need
for further differentiation will be determined by your problem; the more complex it is, the
subheadings will be required.
 
2. Analyze each reference in terms of your outline; in other words, determine under
which subheadings each one fits.
 
3. Take all the references identified for a given subheading and analyze the
relationships or differences between them.
 
If three references say essentially the same thing, there is no need to describe each
one; it is much better to make one summary statement followed by three references.
 
Example:
       Several studies have found offering product quality to be more effective than
promotional campaigns in sustaining the sales of the companies.  (Carlos,          2018;
De Pedro, 2017; De la Torre, 2015).
 
 4. Do not ignore studies which are contradictory to most other studies or to your
personal bias. Analyze and evaluate contradictory studies and try to determine a
possible explanation.
 
5. The review should flow in such a way that the references least related to the
problem are discussed first, and the most related references discussed last, just
prior to the statement of hypothesis.
 
6. The review should conclude with a brief summary of the literature and its
implications.
 
WHAT TO REVIEW & WHERE TO GET THE MATERIALS?
 
1. General references
-show where to locate other sources of information related to a certain topic
Ex.: indexes, reviews, abstracts
 
1. Primary sources       -Articles generally written by those who actually conducted
the study, thus, primary
Ex.: journals (results of research studies)
 
 
2. Secondary sources
 
Refer to publications where authors cite the work of others
 
Good references for overview of problem
1.
Ex.: books, reviews, yearbooks, encyclopedia
 
STEPS IN LITERATURE REVIEW
 
Review the precise definition of the research problem. Note the key variables specified
in the study objectives and hypothesis.
Formulate “search terms” pertinent to problem/question/interest
In using indexes, search for relevant primary & secondary sources guided by the search
terms
Start with the most recent issue & work backwards
Next, search for sources listed under terms synonymous or related to search terms
List in a note or index card the bibliographical data of the sources selected containing
the information such as follows:
             a) author
 (b) its title
(c) name of the publication
(d) date of publication (if book, include place & date)
(e) page/s of the article
Read the selected reading materials, take notes, and summarize key points
 
WRITING THE LITERATURE REVIEW
 
1. Introduction – briefly describes the nature of the research problem and explains
what led the researcher to investigate the question. The summary presents the
main topics covered in the literature review section.
 
2. Body- briefly reports what experts think or what other researchers have found
about the research problem
Studies done on one key element/factor of the research problem are reviewed under
that topic followed by studies done on other aspects of the problem. The common
findings of several studies are summarized in one or two sentences and only when
necessary , some specific findings of each study may be presented.
 
3. Summary/Synthesis – this “ties together” the major findings of the studies
reviewed. It presents the general picture of what has been known or thought of
about the problem to date. It points out similar results, as well as conflicting
findings.
 
4. Conclusion – this part presents the course of action suggested by the literature.
Based on the state of knowledge revealed by the literature, the researcher could
further justify the need of his/her study.
 

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