CHAPTER 5

Having happily found a suitable topic, the beginning researcher is usually “raring
to go.” Too often the review of related literature is seen as a necessary evil to be
completed as fast as possible so that that one can get on with the “real research.” This
perspective is due to a lack of understanding of the purposes and importance of the
review and to a feeling of uneasiness on the students who are not sure exactly how to
go about reporting on the literature. Nonetheless, literature review of related literature is
as important as any other component of the research process and can be conducted
quite painlessly if approached in an orderly manner. Some researchers even find the
process quite enjoyable!

฀ To develop an understanding on how to construct a related literature.

฀ Identify what and where are the sources of related study materials.
฀ Identify the parts of a well-constructed review of related studies and literature.

❖ Meaning of review of related literature and studies

❖ Need of review of literature and studies
❖ Objectives of review of literature and studies
❖ Sources or related literature and studies
❖ Functions and structure of related literature

☑ Related literature is composed of discussions of facts and principles to which

the present study is related. For instance, if the presents study deals with drug
addition, literature to be reviewed or surveyed should be compose of materials
that deal with drug addiction.
☑ These materials are usually printed and found in books, encyclopedias, journals,
magazines newspapers and other publications.

☑ These materials are classified as:

1. Local, if printed in the Philippines.

2. Foreign, if printed in other lands.

☑ Related Studies refers to studies, inquiries, or investigations already conducted

to which the present proposed study is relate or has some bearing or similarity.

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 They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses, and
dissertations.
☑ These materials are classified as
1. Local, if the inquiry was conducted in the Philippines
2. Foreign, if conducted in foreign lands.

A survey or review of related literature and studies is very important because

such reviewed literature and studies serve as a foundation of the proposed study. This
is because related literature and studies guide the researcher in pursuing his venture.
Reviewed literature and studies help or guide the researcher in the following
ways:
1. They help or guide the researcher in searching or selecting a better research
problem or topic. By reviewing related materials, a replication of a similar
problem may be found better than the problem already chosen. Replication is the
study of research problem already conducted but in another place.
2. They help the investigator understand his topic researcher better. Reviewing
related literature and studies may clarify vague points about his problem.
3. They ensure that there will be no duplication or other studies. There is
duplication if an investigation already made is conducted again in the same
locale using practically the same respondents. This is avoided if a survey of
related literature and studies be made first.
4. They help and guide the researcher in locating more sources of related
information. This is because the bibliography of a study already conducted
indicate references about similar studies.
5. They help and guide the researcher in making his research design especially
in
a. the formulation of specific questions to be research on;
b. the formulation of assumptions and hypotheses if there should any;
c. the formulation of conceptual framework.
d. the selection and application of the methods of research;
e. the selection and application of sampling techniques.
f. the selection and/or preparation and validation of research instruments.
g. the analysis, organization, presentation, and interpretation of data.
h. the making of the summary of implications for the whole study
i. the formulation of the summary of findings, conclusions, and
recommendation

6. They help and guide the researcher in making comparison between his
findings of other researchers on similar studies with the end in view of

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 formulating generalization or principles which are the contributions of the study to
fund of knowledge.

There are certain characteristics of related materials that make them of true
value. Among these characteristics are:
1. The surveyed materials must be as recent as possible. This is important
because of the rapid social, economic, scientific, and technological
change. Findings several years ago may be of little value today because
of the fast changing life style of the people. There are exception, however.
Treatises that deal on the universals or things or more or less permanent
nature may be still be good today. There are mathematical laws and
formulas and statistical procedures that had been formulated a long, long
time ago which are being use today with very, very little improvement. This
is also true with natural and physical laws. Books on these, though written
a long time ago, are still being cited today. Another exception is when a
comparison or contrast is to be made between the conditions of today and
those of a remote past, say ten or twenty years ago. Naturally, literature
and studies about that remote past have to be surveyed and reviewed.
2. Materials reviewed must be objective and unbiased. Some materials are
extremely or subtly one sided, either political, or religious, etc. Comparison
with these materials cannot be made logically and validity. Distorted
generalizations may result.
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 upon genuinely original and
true facts or data to make them valid and reliable. There are cases where
fictitious data are supplied just to complete a research report. Of course,
this kind of deception is hard to detect and to prove. Thus, this is real
problem to honest researchers.
5. Reviewed materials must not be few or too many. They must only be
sufficient enough to give insight onto the research problem or to indicate
the nature of the present investigation. This may also depend upon the
availability of related materials.

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 The sources of related literature and studies may include the following:
1. Articles published in professional journals, magazines, periodicals,
newspaper, and other publications.
2. Books, encyclopaedias, almanacs, and other similar references.
3. Manuscripts, monographs, memoirs, speeches, letters, and diaries.
4. Unpublished theses and dissertations.
5. The Constitution, and laws and statues of the land.
6. Bulletins, circulars, and orders emanating from government offices and
departments especially from the Office of the President of the Philippines
and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports.
7. Records from the schools, public and private, especially reports of their
activities.
8. Reports from seminars educational or otherwise.
9. Official reports of all kinds, educational, social, economic, scientific,
technological, political, etc. from the government and other entities.

Generally, the sources of related literature and studies are located in the following
places:

฀ Libraries, either government, school, or private libraries.

Government and private offices.
฀ National Library
฀ The Library of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports
฀ The last two are especially rich depositories of related materials, particularly
unpublished master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

Like any other chapter in your thesis or dissertation, your literature review
needs to have a clear, logical structure. At a minimum, it should have three
essential components – an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

1: The Introduction Section

Just like any good introduction, the introduction section of your literature
review should introduce the purpose and layout (organisation) of the chapter. In
other words, your introduction needs to give the reader a taste of what’s to come,
and how you’re going to lay that out. Essentially, you should provide the reader

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 with a high-level roadmap of your chapter to give them a taste of the journey that
lies ahead.
Here’s an example of the layout visualised in a literature review introduction:

Your introduction should also outline your topic (including any tricky
terminology or jargon) and provide an explanation of the scope of your literature
review – in other words, what you will and won’t be covering. This helps ring-fence
your review and achieve a clear focus. The clearer and narrower your focus, the
deeper you can dive into the topic (which is typically where the magic lies).
Depending on the nature of your project, you could also present your stance
or point of view at this stage. In other words, after grappling with the literature
you’ll have an opinion about what the trends and concerns are in the field as well
as what’s lacking. The introduction section can then present these ideas so that it
is clear to examiners that you’re aware of how your research connects with
existing knowledge.

2: The Body Section

The body of your literature review is the centre of your work. This is where
you’ll present, analyse, evaluate and synthesise the existing research. In other
words, this is where you’re going to earn (or lose) the most marks. Therefore, it’s
important to carefully think about how you will organise your discussion to present
it in a clear way.
The body of your literature review should do just as the description of this
chapter suggests. It should “review” the literature – in other words, identify,
analyse, and synthesise it. So, when thinking about structuring your literature
review, you need to think about which structural approach will provide the best
“review” for your specific type of research and objectives (we’ll get to this shortly).
There are (broadly speaking) three options for organising your literature review.
✔ Option 1: Chronological (according to date)
Organising the literature chronologically is one of the simplest ways to
structure your literature review. You start with what was published first and work your
way through the literature until you reach the work published most recently. Pretty
straightforward.
✔ Option 2: Thematic (grouped by theme)
The thematic approach to structuring a literature review means organising
your literature by theme or category – for example, by independent variables (i.e.
factors that have an impact on a specific outcome).
✔ Option 3: Methodological
The methodological option is a way of structuring your literature review by the
research methodologies used. In other words, organising your discussion based on

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 the angle from which each piece of research was approached – for example,
qualitative, quantitative or mixed methodologies.
3: The Conclusion Section
Once you’ve completed the body section of your literature review using one
of the structural approaches we discussed above, you’ll need to “wrap up” your
literature review and pull all the pieces together to set the direction for the rest of
your dissertation or thesis.
The conclusion is where you’ll present the key findings of your literature
review. In this section, you should emphasise the research that is especially
important to your research questions and highlight the gaps that exist in the
literature. Based on this, you need to make it clear what you will add to the
literature – in other words, justify your own research by showing how it will help
fill one or more of the gaps you just identified.
Last but not least, if it’s your intention to develop a theoretical framework
for your dissertation or thesis, the conclusion section is a good place to present
this.

฀ https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-is-the-difference-between-literature-and-study
-2/
฀ https://everythingwhat.com/what-is-the-difference-between-related-literature-and-
related-studies
฀ https://www.slideshare.net/JhengReyes/chapter-iii-thesis-ni-gara
฀ https://www.slideshare.net/dilipbarad/literature-review-review-of-related-literature-
research-methodology
฀ https://www.monash.edu/rlo/graduate-research-writing/write-the-thesis/introductio
n-literature-reviews
฀ https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/
฀ https://www.elcomblus.com/what-is-a-review-of-related-literature-rrl/
฀ https://libguides.uwf.edu/c.php?g=215199&p=1420520
฀ https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/the-structure-of-a-literature-review/
฀ https://bowvalleycollege.libguides.com/literature-reviews
฀ https://gradcoach.com/literature-review-structure/

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