PRACTICAL RESEARCH I MODULE

Quarter 1, Week 6

Wallace and Wray (2006, p.92) have provided a simple categorization system to help students
identify the literature they have. They describe how the literature students encounter tends to fall
into one of five categories: 1) Theoretical; 2) Research; 3) Empirical; 4) Practice; and 5) Policy.

The Five Categories of Literature:

1.) Theoretical literature

describes expected or anticipated relationships about the way things happen. A theory is
developed that is then refined or refuted when further evidence is obtained.
2) Research literature
generally, refers to a report of a systematic investigation that has been undertaken in
response to the need to answer a specific question,
3) Empirical research
is a research that is undertaken through the observation and measurement of the world
around us. It studies the use of observation, experience or experimentation to collect new data.
4) Practice literature
is written by practitioners about their field of expertise. This can come in many different
forms—expert opinion, discussion papers, debate, information from websites, patient
information leaflets, and reports of good practice
5) Policy literature
tells practitioners how to act in a set of circumstances. Policies and guidelines can be
written from a given set of circumstances. Policies and guidelines can be written from a local
or national perspective, or in some cases international.

After gathering materials for review, the next step is writing the literature review section of the
research. One important skill that you need to learn when writing the literature review is proper
citation. This is to avoid plagiarism in your research work study the following excerpt from a
literature review:

APA and MLA are two most common citation styles. The APA style is used within the social
sciences, while the MLA style is used within the liberal arts and humanities

Basic APA Citations

• Parenthetical example – Authored book

It can be said that all postmodern art is a reaction to fake sincerity, or faked patriotism
(Baxter, 2007).

• Narrative example – Authored book

According to Baxter (2007), all forms of postmodern art can be seen as reactions to faked
sincerity or faked patriotism.

• Reference entry example – Authored book

Baxter, C. (2007). The art of subtext. Graywolf Press.

• Narrative and Parenthetical Citations APA with Two Authors

If you are citing a reference entry that has two authors, include both names, separated by
an ampersand.

• APA style parenthetical citation structure:

(1st Author’s Last Name & 2nd Author’s Last Name, Year)
 • APA parenthetical citation example – Two authors:
Rallying to restore sanity was a revolutionary undertaking (Stewart & Colbert, 2010).

• Narrative example – Two authors:

Stewart and Colbert (2010) stated that rallying to restore sanity was a revolutionary
undertaking.

• Reference entry example – Two authors:

Stewart and Colbert (2010) stated that rallying to restore sanity was a revolutionary
undertaking.

• Citing Works with Three to five Authors

Include only the last name of the first author, followed by “et al.” and the year published
in all narrative and parenthetical citations APA.
Note: The reference entry should list the names of up to 20 authors.

• Parenthetical example – Three or more authors:

Rallying to restore sanity was a revolutionary undertaking (Stewart et al., 2010).

• Narrative example – Three or more authors:

Stewart, Colbert, and Oliver (2010) stated that rallying to restore sanity was a
revolutionary undertaking.

• Citing works with six or more Authors:

Use the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in the signal phrase or in parentheses:
Examples:
David et al. (2014) argued…
(David et al., 2014)

CITING WORKS WITHOUT AN AUTHOR

In cases where no author is provided and no author can be reasonably determined, the
title of the work takes the place of the author name in the in-text citation.
There are a couple of things to consider if you are going to use the title of your work for the in-
text citation:
• If the title is italicized within your reference entry (as it would be for most periodicals
and journal articles) then it also needs to be italicized inside the in-text citation.
• If the title is not italicized in the reference entry, then it needs to be placed within
quotation marks (“Title”) in the in-text citation. This is the case with individual book
chapters, TV episodes, and other works that are entries within a larger body of work.
• Work titles that appear inside an in-text citation should be in title case (all words
capitalized) while the same title in the reference entry should be in sentence case (only
the first word, proper nouns, and words appearing after a colon or semicolon are
capitalized).

Parenthetical example – Source without an author:

Statistics confirm that the trend is rising (“New Data”, 2013).

Narrative Example – Source Without an Author:

In the chapter entitled “New Data” (2013), statistics confirm the trend is rising.
https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/how-to-cite-a-parenthetical-
citations-apa/
Example of APA in-text citation style:

https://www.google.com/search?q=example+of+parenthetical+citation+apa&source=lnms&tbm
=

MLA Citation Style

Parenthetical citation
An MLA parenthetical citation is created when the author’s name is NOT in the sentence.
Instead, the author’s name is in parentheses after the sentence, along with the page number.
Here is an MLA parenthetical citation example:

When it comes to technology, we “need to be comfortable enough with technology

tools and services that we can help point our patrons in the right direction, even if we
aren’t intimately familiar with how the device works” (King 11).

In the above example, King’s name is not included in the sentence itself, so his name is in
parentheses after the sentence, with 11 for the page number. The 11 indicates that the quote is
found on page 11 in the journal.

When a source has two authors, place both authors’ last names in the body of your work
(Handbook 116). The last names do not need to be listed in alphabetical order. Instead, follow the
same order as shown on the source.
Here is an example of an MLA in-text citation for a book with two authors:

Gaiman and Pratchett further elaborate by sharing their creepy reminder that
“just because it’s a mild night doesn’t mean that dark forces aren’t abroad. They’re
abroad all of the time. They’re everywhere” (15).

Sources with Three or More Authors

Instead of including all last names, only include the last name of the first individual
shown on the source. Follow the first author’s last name with the Latin phrase, “et al.” This Latin
phrase translates to “and others.” Add the page number after et al.

Here’s a parenthetical citation MLA example for multiple authors:

• “School library programs in Croatia and Hong Kong are mainly focused on two major
educational tasks. One task is enhancing students’ general literacy and developing
reading habits, whereas the other task is developing students’ information literacy and
research abilities” (Tam et al. 299).
https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/how-to-cite-a-parenthetical-
citations-mla/
NAME: ____________________________________ SECTION: ___________________

Practical Research 1 Activity Sheets

Quarter 1, Week 6

You are a qualitative researcher and you are interested in conducting a research on the topic
“Computer literacy among adult learners”. Identify materials in the internet (online) that can help
you identify the problems that adults encounter when using or learning computers. List at least
three materials from each type of source.

1. Books (e-books):
a. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Journal articles:
a. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. Online articles:
a. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________