PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1

QUARTER 3 WEEK 6

MELCs 15-16. The learner… 15. selects relevant literature; 16. cites literature using a standard
style

Directions. Read the following notes and accomplish the tasks that follow.

NOTES
I. Selecting Relevant Literature
Literature review is an academic text that provides an overview of a particular topic. It helps
identify what is known and not known about a certain subject of study. It involves the use of
synthesis of several scholarly works.
It has several functions such as: 1. It establishes the relevance of the study; 2. It further helps in
establishing the research gap that the study intends to fill; 3. It provides important information
about your topic and the concepts related to it; 4. It presents the contradictions between and
among previous literature; 5. It justifies your research methodology; 6. It presents and discusses
your theoretical frameworks which are the backbone of your study.

Three Stages of Literature Review

1. Literature Search. This is the stage in which the researcher systematically looks for and
selects reference materials relevant to the study. There are various information sources one can
consult when doing literature review. These are general references, nonfiction materials,
periodicals. General references include dictionaries, encyclopedia, almanac, atlas, indexes, and
bibliographies which are usually located in the general reference section of the library.
Meanwhile, nonfiction materials include books of information usually found in the circulation
section. Periodicals, on the other hand, are sources that come at a regular period of time such as
daily newspaper, magazines, and journals and are contained in the periodical section of the
library. More or less, you already know about these sources as you have been exposed to them
since you were in Elementary.
2. Evaluation and Analysis of the Selected Works. Once you have selected all your potential
references you would now further screen the selected references for reliability and usefulness.
This stage also further ensures that the materials you will use in your paper are only those that
are closely related to your research topic. The following strategies you can use in evaluating and
analyzing your selected references:
a. Obtain an overview of the reference you selected. This will help you determine the relevance
of its content to your research.
b. When evaluating research articles, find out if they are published by a reputable
publisher/journal and written by legitimate scholars in your field of study.
c. As much as possible, refrain from using references published by predatory journals or
publishers as they do not guarantee quality. Predatory publishers and journals are those that
publish research papers for financial gain and do not follow the ethics in producing academic
work.
d. Refrain from using materials that do not directly explain the concepts related to your study.
e. As much as possible, use references that have been published within last five years, unless you
are writing a historical paper, which may entail the use of sources from earlier periods of time.
f. Group the references according to the categories you used during your literature search.
g. If materials appear to be relevant to your topic, current (i.e, published in the last five years),
and reliable, continue reading its content. However, if the material does not meet these standards
exclude it from your literature review.
h. Carefully read each of the materials you will incorporate into your literature review.
i. Use a concept map if you want to see the relationship, similarities, and differences among the
materials you have read.

3. Drafting the Literature Review. It is in this stage where you actually write your literature
review. In drafting your review, you need to consider how you are going to arrange the works
you will cite. You also need to consider how these works will be linked to one another, to better
provide an overview of the topic you are studying in your research. You shall learn more about
this from the succeeding notes.

II. Citing Literature

Citation refers to specific source that you mention in the body of your paper. A "citation" is the
way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also
gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including information
about the author and the title of the work. The researcher uses the Author’s surname and the year
of publication.
It is of two types – the weak author citation and the strong author citation. Weak author citation
is when the author’s surname and the year of publication are both enclosed in parentheses. This
is used when the statement is more prominent than the author himself. Whereas strong author
citation where the author’s surname is not enclosed in the parentheses is used when the author
assumes more prominence than his statement.
Types of Citation Methods
1. American Psychological Association (APA) is generally used by the social and behavioral
sciences.
a. In APA style, a source quoted within the body of the text (weak author citation)
requires the author, year, and specific page citation in the text:
“If an object is at rest and is in a state of equilibrium, then we would say that the
object is at a static equilibrium” (Makalintal, Dinglasan, & Unday, 2017, p. 177).
b. Meanwhile, in strong author citation, you need to place the year in parentheses directly after
the author’s name, with the page number following the quote:
Makalintal, Dinglasan, and Unday (2017) assert that “If an object is at rest and is in a
state of equilibrium, then we would say that the object is at a static equilibrium” (p. 177).

2. Modern Language Association (MLA) is largely used for documentation in the humanities,
specifically languages
and literature, including English, modern languages, and comparative literature.
a. In MLA style, a source cited within the body of your text (weak author citation)
requires the author and the
page:
“Most living organisms especially plants and animals are separated from its
external environment by a boundary, thereby forming differences in external and internal
conditions.” (Rea and Dagamac 53).
b. However, if you use the author’s name(s) to introduce the quote (strong author citation), you
do not need to use it in the citation:
As Rea and Dagamac remind us “Most living organisms especially plants and animals
are separated from its external environment by a boundary, thereby forming differences in
external and internal conditions.” (53).

3. Chicago Manual of Style (CMS or CMOS)/Turabian is primarily used by writers and

students in humanities,particularly in the field of history.
a. A source directly quoted within the body of the text (weak author citation) requires the author,
date of publication, and page number in a parenthetical reference:

“Alkenes are obtained in industrial quantities chiefly by the cracking of petroleum”

(Mina, Villalobos, Hernandez, and Manalo 2014, 210).

b. In strong author citation, you need to cite the year in parentheses directly after the author’s
name and include the page number following the quotation:

Mina, Villalobos, Hernandez, and Manalo 2014 assert that “Alkenes are obtained in
industrial quantities chiefly by the cracking of petroleum” (210).