REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
undertaken?
The Review of Related Literature (RRL) includes
criteria in selecting, citing, and synthesizing related
literature. A review of related literature is a
comprehensive review of the existing literature
pertaining to a specific topic or research question.
An effective review provides the reader with an
organized analysis and synthesis of the existing
knowledge about a subject.
It will also involve the following:
 Ethical standards in writing related literature
formulation of conceptual framework
 Research hypothesis
 Definition of terms as used in the study.
Skills to be developed:
 Selecting relevant literature
 Citing related literature using APA format
 Synthesizing information from relevant literature
 Writing coherent review of related literature 
observing ethical standards in writing related
literature
 Illustrating and explaining conceptual framework.
WHAT IS A GOOD LITERATURE REVIEW?
A good Literature review must be:
 An academic text that provides an overview
of a particular topic. An important feature of
academic texts is that they are
 Organized in a specific way
 They have a clear structure.
 This structure makes it easier for your
reader to navigate your text and understand
the material better.
 It also makes it easier for you to organize
your material.
 The structure of an academic text should be
clear throughout the text and within each
section, paragraph and even sentence
(Karolinska Institutet-University Library, 2018).
 It helps to identify known and not known
subject of the study.
 It involves the use of Higher-order thinking
skills (HOTS) such as Review, Evaluation,
and Synthesis of several scholarly works
(journal articles, professional books, online
sources, and specialized references).
A systematic quantitative literature review
can help answer important questions, such
as:
 -who has published on the topic?
 -where has research been conducted?
 -when was most of the research
 -what key research questions were
addressed, and are any missing?
 -what methods have been used and have
any been neglected?
 -what have researchers discovered?
 -are there any limitations (such as problems
with methods, analyses and results)?
 -what is still unexplored? (Pickering & Byrne,
2014).
Functions of Related Literature
 It establishes the relevance of the
study.
 It further helps in establishing
research gap that the study intends to
fill.
 It provide important information
about your topic and the concepts
related to it.
 It presents contradictions between
and among previous literature.
 Justifies your research methodology
based on previous studies relevant to
your research; and
 Presents and discusses your
theoretical and conceptual
frameworks which are the backbone
of your study.
Key Points to Consider in Related
Literature
 This is not a summary of all the
literature that you read, but rather an
exposition or background knowledge
for further search.
 This can be placed or found in various
sections of the study like introduction,
literature review and discussion.
 An intelligent synthesis of the literature
must be presented in the research
paper.
 An effective and practical
management of collected literature will
facilitate both the analysis and
synthesis of literature.
Important Skills in Drafting the
Literature Review
Strategies for effective summarizing:
 Read and understand content.
 Annotate the text
 Take note of essential information for
bibliographical citation.
 Identify main idea and write using your
own words.
 Combine sentences and make it
coherent using appropriate cohesive
devices.
 Avoid adding comments.
 Avoid repeating ideas unnecessarily.
  Compare summary to the original text.
Research Ethics to avoid plagiarism
basic principles of ethical practice
should be applied such as
paraphrasing and citation.
Plagiarism – “most serious violations of the
contract between the reader and the
writer” (Roig, 2002). It is the use of
someone’ else’s words or ideas, and
passing them off as your own. It is
associated with phrases such as
kidnapping of words, or ideas, fraud, and
literary theft plagiarism of ideas and
plagiarism of text.
DRAFT THE RELATED LITERATURE
(Barrot, 2017)
1. Get a model paper that deals with a topic
similar to yours.
Pattern your sequence or make a topic
outline using key words as guide.
Use headings and subheadings because it
helps to organize and make sense of the
ideas to your research.
Apply the principles of cohesiveness in
writing. Meaning, each paragraph will focus
only in one main idea and should be linked
to one another.
Use cohesive devices throughout the
literature review to link one idea to
another. Examples: transitional devices,
conjunctions, pronouns, and repetition of
terms for referencing ideas.
TOPIC OUTLINE:
STUDY:
1. 21st Century Learners a.
LEARNING DELIVERY Characteristics 2. LDM a. Distance
MODALITY PREFERENCE Learning i. Type of Distance
OF 21st CENTURY Learning Modality ii.
LEARNERS Platforms/Resources
2. Divide the literature review into two
subsections:
A. Conceptual literature section - explains
concepts relevant to your study, and use concepts
from the title of the references or the specific
questions and objectives of your research.
 Define important terms in your study:
 Operational Definition – specifically made
for your study.
 Conceptual Definition – definition of the
term used in a specific discipline and
should be quoted and cited. Although, use
direct quotation sparingly. (Usually in thesis
writing, this is a specific portion of the
introduction).
B. Related studies section which presents
studies similar to your own and which can be
arranged in three ways:
 Thematic arrangement – if your intention is
to make the readers focus on how your
study is similar to or different from the
previous ones.
 Chronological arrangement – if you
want to emphasize the development and
progress in a specific field of study.
 Typological arrangement – if there are
sufficient studies conducted locally about
the topic of your research.
At the end of the related studies section.
 Write a synthesis that shows the
research gap to show that the
scholarly works shaped your paper
and reinforce the research gap.
 Survey all possible sources before
claiming no prior studies done.
Conceptual Framework
 A part of the study that “explains, either
graphical or narrative form the main things
(key factors or variables, concepts, and
theories) to be studied and the presumed
relationships among them (as cited in Arcinas,
2016 p54-56).”
 Describes the relationship between specific
variables identified in the study. Baraceros
(2017)
 Explained that relationships of key concepts
or variables is designated by ARROW (⟶)
indicating a “cause and effect” relationship
(pointing from the independent variable
towards the dependent variable) while the
LINE (─) if causality is not established.
 It includes a logical and procedural model to
help design their own particular study
(researcher’s map).
 It also outlines the input, process, and output
of the whole investigation.
 It helps you refine the goals of the study,
notice possible errors, and select appropriate
methods (data collection and analysis) for the
study (Barrot, 2017).
 It is anchored on a formal theory that
provides context for the outcome of the study.
 It also provides explanation of the
importance of the study and how the
researcher anticipates filling the gap in the
literature.
  Conceptual framework provides evidence of
academic standards and procedure (Walden
University, 2020).
 The conceptual framework is founded on the
theoretical framework that lies on a much
broader scale of resolution.
Theoretical framework
Is may be formulated from an existing
theory/ies as the foundation of the study
(Cristobal & dela Cruz-Cristobal, 2017).
Time tested theories that embody the findings
of numerous investigations on how phenomena
occur (Barrot, 2017).
The conceptual and theoretical frameworks
are also called as the research paradigm.
Paradigm of the study is the result of the clear
understanding of the conceptual or theoretical
framework in a diagrammatic presentation of
the study (Cristobal & dela Cruz-Cristobal,
2017).
 The paradigm of the study illustrated can be
made up of varied figures, lines, circles, boxes
or symbols representing your concepts of those
varied features of the research (Baraceros,
2017).
Example
Input Process
Output
Feature On-line
Writing Research Better
Sports Writing journalistic
On-line
writing
References
Editorial outputs
Writing
The difference between the theoretical and
conceptual frameworks:
Theoretical Framework
 Scope Broader- in scope as it can be used
in different studies
 Focus of content- A particular study
 Number of theories- Contains only one
theory in one framework
 Time of development - Already existing
prior to the conduct of the study
Conceptual Framework
 Scope- More focused in scope as it directly
relates to a specific study
 Focus of content- A set of related concepts
that will be specifically used in the study
 Number of theories- May combined different
theories into one cohesive framework
 Time of development- Developed while
planning and writing a specific research
Barrot (2017) provides some strategies in
developing your conceptual framework:
 Identify key concepts/variables of your
study from the research questions or
objectives for alignment.
 Search supportive theories of key
concepts/variables and its relationships.
 Using the theories as guide, plot your
conceptual framework using a concept map.
 Key concepts/variables not supported by
theories but are needed in the study can be
incorporated into the conceptual framework.
 Write a narrative explanation of each
concept and how are they related to one
another.
Hypothesis Testing
 Part of statistics in which we make
assumptions about the population parameter.
 A proper procedure by analyzing a random
sample of the population to accept or reject the
assumption (Sahoo, 2003; Gupta & Kapoor,
2002; & Watkins, 2016).
 There are different types of research
hypothesis depending on what kind of research
study and purpose you have.
 Quantitative research that deals with
hypothesis testing, dwell with the two types.
 Only inferential questions are provided with
these two types of hypothesis
2 Type of Hypothesis
1. Null hypothesis:
Null hypothesis is a type of hypothesis in
which we assume that the sample observations
are purely by chance.
 It is denoted by H0.
2. Alternate hypothesis:
 Alternate hypothesis is a hypothesis in which
we assume that sample observations are NOT
by chance.
 They are affected by some non-random
situation.
 It is denoted by H1 or Ha
Relating research questions and its
hypothesis:
Type of Research
 Descriptive comparative
 Correlational
  Ex post facto
 Quasi- experimental
 Experimental
Research Questions
Descriptive comparative
  Is there a significant difference in the
attitudes of learners towards Modular Distance
Learning when grouped according to socio-
economic status and grade level?
Correlational
 Is there a relationship between study habits
and academic performance of learners?
Ex post facto
  Is there a significant difference in the
performance of learners who experienced and
not experienced bullying?
Quasi- experimental \ Experimental
 Is there a significant difference in the academic
performance of learners when exposed and not
exposed to the intervention?
Hypothesis
Descriptive comparative
 Ha There is a there a significant difference in
the attitudes of learners towards Modular
Distance Learning when grouped according to
socio-economic status and grade level.
 Ho: There is no there a significant difference in
the attitudes of learners towards Modular
Distance Learning when grouped according to
socio-economic status and grade level.
Correlational
 Ha: There is a relationship between study
habits and academic performance of learners.
 Ho: There is no relationship between study
habits and academic performance of learners.
Ex post facto
 Ha: There is a significant difference in the
performance of learners who experienced and
not experienced bullying.
 Ho: There no significant difference in the
performance of learners who experienced and
not experienced bullying.
Quasi- experimental \ Experimental
 Ha: There is a significant difference in the
academic performance of learners when
exposed and not exposed to the intervention.
 Ho: There is no significant difference in the
academic performance of learners when
exposed and not exposed to the Experimental
intervention.
Steps of Hypothesis Testing (The steps are
realized if you have gathered and analyzed
data)
The process to determine whether to reject a null
hypothesis or to fail to reject the null hypothesis,
based on sample data is called hypothesis testing.
4 steps in Hypothesis Testing
 Define the null and alternate hypothesis
(focus of our discussion)
 Define an analysis plan to find how to use
sample data to estimate the null hypothesis
 Do some analysis on the sample data to
create a single number called „test statistic‟
 Understand the result by applying the
decision rule to check whether the Null
hypothesis is true or not If the value of t-
stat is less than the significance level we
will REJECT the null hypothesis, otherwise,
we will fail to reject the null hypothesis.
Technically, we never accept the null hypothesis,
we say that either we fail to reject or we reject the
null hypothesis (Sahoo, 2003; Gupta & Kapoor,
2002; & Watkins, 2016)
Why a review of related literature in research
is important 
Before thinking how to do reviews of related
literature, it is necessary to understand its
importance. Although the purpose of a review of
related literature varies depending on the discipline
and how it will be used, its importance is never in
question. Here are some ways in which a review
can be crucial. 
 Identify gaps in the knowledge – This is the
primary purpose of a review of related
literature (often called RRL in research). To create
new knowledge, you must first determine what
knowledge may be missing. This also helps to
identify the scope of your study. 
 Avoid duplication of research efforts – Not
only will a review of related literature indicate gaps
in the existing research, but it will also lead you
away from duplicating research that has already
been done and thus save precious resources. 
 Provide an overview of disparate and
interdisciplinary research areas – Researchers
cannot possibly know everything related to their
disciplines. Therefore, it is very helpful to have
access to a review of related literature already
written and published. 
 Highlight researcher’s familiarity with their
topic1 – A strong review of related literature in a
study strengthens readers’ confidence in that study
and that researcher.
Tips on how to write a review of related
literature in research
 Define your topic, audience, and
purpose: You will be spending a lot of time
with this review, so choose a topic that is
interesting to you. While deciding what to
write in a review of related literature, think
about who you expect to read the review –
researchers in your discipline, other
scientists, and the general public – and
tailor the language to the audience. Also,
think about the purpose of your review of
related literature.  References
about an experimental study, you will typically see
a literature review or a RRL in research, in the
introduction that includes brief descriptions of
similar studies. In longer research studies and
dissertations, especially in the social sciences,
the review of related literature will typically be a
separate chapter and include more information on
methodologies and theory building. In addition,
stand-alone review articles will be published that
are extremely useful to researchers. 
The review of relevant literature or often
abbreviated as, RRL in research, is an important
communication tool that can be used in many
forms for many purposes. It is a tool that all
researchers should befriend. 

 Conduct a comprehensive literature University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing

search: While writing your review of
related literature, emphasize more recent
works but don’t forget to include some older
publications as well. Cast a wide net, as you
may find some interesting and relevant
literature in unexpected databases or library
corners. Don’t forget to search for recent
conference papers.
Center. Literature
Reviews. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-
tools/literature-reviews/ [Accessed September 8,
2022]
Pautasso M. Ten simple rules for writing a literature
review. PLoS Comput Biol. 2013, 9. doi:
10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149.

 Review the identified articles and take

notes: It is a good idea to take notes in a
way such that individual items in your notes
can be moved around when you organize
them. For example, index cards are great
tools for this. Write each individual idea on
a separate card along with the source. The
cards can then be easily grouped and
organized. 

 Determine how to organize your

review: A review of related
literature should not be merely a listing of
descriptions. It should be organized by
some criterion, such as chronologically or
thematically. 

 Be critical and objective: Don’t just

report the findings of other studies in
your review of related literature. Challenge
the methodology, find errors in the analysis,
and question the conclusions. Use what you
find to improve your research. However, do
not insert your opinions into the review of
related literature. Remain objective and
open-minded. 

 Structure your review logically: Guide

the reader through the information. The
structure will depend on the function of the
review of related literature. Creating an
outline prior to writing the RRL in
research is a good way to ensure the
presented information flows well. 

As you read more extensively in your discipline, you

will notice that the review of related
literature appears in various forms in different
places. For example, when you read an article
 
relationship
between studbnd
demic performance
of learners?