RESEARCH 2

Discussion
Review of Related Literature
           Whether you are working on qualitative or quantitative research, you will be spending a
lot of time and effort working on your review of related literature because it is an essential part
of any research (Baraceros, 2016). Through the review of related literature, you can "examine or
study again concepts or ideas related to your research that people managed to publish in books,
journals, or other reading materials in the past" (Baraceros, 2016, p. 53).

Purposes of RRL
           According to Baraceros (2016), the following are the reasons that you should review
related literature. Furthermore, they apply to both quantitative and qualitative studies.

1. “To find out the connection of your research to the current conditions or situations
of the world” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
2. "To know more about theories or concepts underlying your research and to learn
from them with respect to your own research study” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
3. “To discover the relation of your research with previous research studies”
(Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
4. “To obtain information on the accuracy or relevance of your research questions”
(Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
5. "To familiarize yourself with technical terms related to your research” (Baraceros,
2016, p.53).

RRL in Quantitative Research

           There are two basic methods in approaching your review of related literature. First, the
systematic review is a question-driven methodology that is primarily used by quantitative
researchers (Baraceos, 2016). In the systematic review, the research would start by asking one
question that deals with the main problem of the research and sub-questions that looks into the
different aspects of the research. Second, the traditional review is primarily used by qualitative
researchers. Similarly, qualitative research starts with research questions (Baraceros, 2016).
However, these questions are open-ended and subjective, unlike in quantitative research, where
the questions aim to obtain exact, specific, and objective answers.

Steps in Conducting a Systematic Review

           A systematic review of related literature entails the following steps (Baraceros, 2016).

1. “Clarifying the research questions” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).

2. “Planning the research based on your understanding of the research questions”
(Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
3. “Searching for literature” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
 4. “Listing criteria for considering the values of written works” (Baraceros, 2016,
p.53).
5. “Evaluating the quality of previous research studies” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).
6. “Summarizing the various forms of knowledge collected” (Baraceros, 2016, p.53).

           According to Baraceros (2016), “obtaining results of the review of related literature by

means of systematic review that takes place in a step-by-step method is a scientific way of
conducting a re-examination of reading materials that have close connection with your research”
(p.53). Furthermore, through systematic review of related literature, you are able to avoid bias in
dealing with the different forms of literature. Due to the systematic review adhering to the
scientific method, the systematic review is the optimal method of literature review for
quantitative research (Baraceros, 2016).

Meta-analysis in Quantitative Research

           The meta-analysis is a type of literature review where "you re-examine and combine the
results of two or more statistical studies for coming out with a grand total to indicate stronger
effects of the research outcome" (Baraceros, 2016, p.54). Through the meta-analysis, you are
able to strengthen the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable by
combining the results of different works and making them appear as one. Furthermore, it is
beneficial in guaranteeing the preciseness of the quantitative research's measuring method
(Baraceros, 2016).

           However, the meta-analysis method is not always applicable in quantitative research.

According to Baraceros (2016), "you resort to meta-analysis only if the statistics that you intend
to combine come from studies having several similarities like they are comparable in terms of
research questions, research design, treatment, measuring technique, and measurable outcome"
(p.54). Furthermore, these studies that are similar and are optimal for combining are called
homogenous studies.

           On the other hand, studies that are dissimilar and are not fit for meta-analysis are called
heterogeneous studies. For heterogeneous studies, it is recommended to use a qualitative
approach of narrative synthesis (Baraceros, 2016). This approach entails a "systematic review
using written verbal language to explain or describe test results is the appropriate RRL method
for heterogeneous studies" (Baraceros, 2016, p. 54).

In-text Citation and Referencing Styles

           All the ideas, concepts, and information from the literature you plan to review would
come from other authors (Baraceros, 2016). You have to respect the owners of the content you
reviewed and be grateful for their contributions by appropriately citing their works in your
research paper. Through citations or in-text citation, you can properly attribute the ideas that you
borrowed and incorporated into your paper and the original author or owners of the ideas
(Baraceros, 2016). At the end of your research paper, you should have a page dedicated to the
bibliography or references to properly credit those authors. Furthermore, two commonly use
referencing styles are the MLA or Modern Language Association and APA or American
Psychological Association (Baraceros, 2016).
  ASPECT APA SYSTEM  MLA SYSTEM 
 Writing the Author’s name  The full surname first then  The full surname first then
followed by initials of first and followed by full first name and
middle name optional initial or middle name
 Writing the title of the reading  "Italicized title with only the  Underlined or italicized title
material beginning of the word with all content words
capitalized. (exception: capital capitalized
for every proper noun)
 Writing the copyright date  Written after the author’s  Witten after the publisher's
name name
Table from Baraceros (2016)

Examples of MLA Referencing Style

 Citation or In-text  The citation must include the author’s last name and page number
Citation where you got the quotation or paraphrase (MLA quick citation
guide, 2021). For websites, omit the page number (McCombes,
2021).

 (Lopez 163)
 (American Psychological Association)
 (Lopez and Cruz 47)

 Bibliography/References  Websites

 Surname, First name. “Title of Work”. Website, Day

Month Year of Publication, URL.

Books

 Surname, First name. Title of Book. Edition, Publisher,

Year of publication.

Journal Articles

 Surname, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal,

vol. Volume, no. Issue, Month Year of publication, pp.
Pages, doi: DOI.
Examples of APA Referencing Style
  Citation or In-text For APA citation, include the author’s last name and the year of
Citation publication in a parenthesis. Furthermore, they should be separated
by a comma. For direct quotation, add the page number or
paragraph number if the page number is not available.

 (Lopez, 2021)
 (Lopez, 2021, p. 5)
 (Lopez, 2021, para. 5)

  Bibliography/References Websites

 Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month Day of

publication). Title of work. Website. https://URL

Books

 Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of book.

(Edition ed.). Publisher.

Journal Articles

 Surname, Initial(s). (Year of publication). Title of

article. Title of journal, Volume(Issue), Pages.
https://doi.org/DOI.

         With the development of technology and the internet, it is easy to research and simply
copy-and-paste the information you found and put it in your research paper (Baraceros, 2016).
However, this method is unethical in practice and looked down on. If you have to copy the words
from a source directly, it is ethical to do it through proper direct quotation. This is done by
putting quotation marks before and after the text you copied and properly citing the author at the
end (Baraceros, 2016). Failure to do this, either intentionally or because of negligence, is
unethical and a form of plagiarism (Baraceros, 2016). With the advancements in technology,
there are software and online platforms that have been developed to detect plagiarism
(Baraceros, 2016). Through proper citation and referencing, you can avoid plagiarism and keep
your integrity as a researcher.