Locating and Reviewing

the Literature
Lesson 5
 —Intended Learning Outcome/s:

•Discuss the importance of a literature review.

•Differentiate the types of sources of information.
•Write a sample of the literature review.
The Importance of a Literature Review
One of the most important early steps in a research project is the conduct of the
literature review. It is one of the most humbling experiences that a researcher will like to
have because, it is a realization that at the start of any worthwhile project, an idea has
already been thought of before, at least to some degree (Wolfe, 1996).
A literature review is a written summary of journal articles, books, and other
documents that describes the past and current state of information on the topic of your
research study (Creswell, 2012) It is an account or synthesis of what has been published on
a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. Based on these definitions, Librero (2008)
emphasizes that a comprehensive review of the literature would greatly help the thesis
student in determining the research gaps in the area of his/her study, as well as in providing
a synthesis of the latest developments in the discipline
 McMillan (2016) says that literature review refines the research
problem, establishes the conceptual or theoretical framework, helps
develop significance of the study, research questions and hypotheses,
assists in identifying the strengths and limitations of the research
methodology, and enables researchers identify contradictory findings.
Further, you conduct a literature review to document how your study
adds to the existing literature. Literature reviews are designed to provide
an overview of sources you have explored while researching a particular
topic and to demonstrate to your readers how your research fits within a
larger field of study (http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/
literaturereview).
Types of Sources
As the researcher begins to search for information related to the
research questions and variables under study, s/he needs to be familiar
with three (3) basic types of sources - general references, primary
sources, and secondary sources (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2008).
1. General References. These are sources a researcher consults
to locate other sources. It includes indexes, which list the author, title,
and place of publication of articles and other materials, or abstracts,
which give a brief summary of various publications, as well as their
author, title, and place of publication.
 2. Primary Sources. These are publications in which the
researchers report the results of their investigations. Most primary source
material is located in journal articles, such as the Journal of Educational
Research. This journal is usually published monthly or quarterly, and the
articles on them typically report on a particular research study. Search
terms, or descriptors, are key words researchers use to help locate
relevant primary sources.
3. Secondary Sources. These refer to publications in which
authors describe the work of others. The most common secondary
sources are textbooks.
Steps in Searching for a Literature
The following are the steps involved in a literature search
1. Define the research problem as precisely as possible.
2. Look at relevant secondary sources.
3. Select and scan one or two appropriate general reference works.
4. Formulate search terms (key words or phrases) pertinent to the
problem or question of interest.
5. Search the general references for relevant primary sources.
6. Obtain and read relevant primary sources, and note and summarize key
points in the sources.
Ways to do a Literature Search
The two ways of doing a literature search are manually - using
the traditional paper approach, and electronically - by means of computer.
The most common and frequently used method is to search online, via
computer.
Computer searches of the literature has the following
advantages: they are fast; fairly inexpensive; provide printouts and enable
researchers to search using more than one descriptor (term) at a time.
Whether manually or electronically, the essential points that
researchers should record when taking notes on a study are problem,
hypotheses, procedures, findings, and conclusions.
Related Literature
Related literature is also called conceptual literature The gathering of literature
related to the research clarifies the different variables being studied. The related literature
removes any vagueness in the concepts central to the study. The indicators per variable are
clearly based on read articles from different published reference books, textbooks, manuals,
and other materials (Cristobal & Cristobal, 2013).
The different variables used in the study are the focus of the literature search.
The title, paradigm of the study, statement of the problem, and scope and limitation are the
elements that give the research an idea of the relevance of the thesis to his/her own study
(Almeida, et.al, 2016).
As to the number of materials to be gathered for the literature review, Almeida, et
al (2016) asserts that it depends upon the researcher's professional judgement. According to
them, the review of related literature is considered sufficient if the researcher believes that
important concepts and variables have been adequately explained and established.
Related Studies
Determining whether the research is objective and empirically-based includes
surveying previous studies that involve similar variables (Cristobal & Cristobal, 2013). It is
important to note that even if a previous research used the same variables as his or hers, the two
studies may vary in the limitation in terms of the sub-variables investigated or in terms of focus
and purpose (Almeida, et al 2016).
An adequate review of related studies is needed. This serves as the basis of the
analysis of results because it allows the researcher to compare and contrast his/her findings with
those of previous studies. The results of a study verified by similar findings or negated by
different findings of previous researchers.
The collected studies are related to the present study when the author uses the same
variables, sub-variables, concepts, or constructs; and have the same subject or topic of the study.
The studies collected are in the form of theses, dissertations, or journal articles. These are
collectively called research literature.
In the review of a related study, indicate the name of the author, the date and the
setting the study was conducted, the title, and the salient findings.
Writing the Literature Review Report
Literature reviews differ in format, but typically they consist of an
introduction, the body of the review, and a summary (synthesis).
In the introduction part, the researcher briefly describes the nature of
the research problem and states the research question. The body of the review
briefly reports what others have found or thought about the research problem.
Since there are various related studies that can be cited, the researcher should
provide a summary (synthesis) which briefly connects the previous studies to the
present study.
Documentation style and paraphrasing must be considered in writing
the literature review report.
Documentation Style
Throughout the research, the published researches of other
researchers are cited to credit those who prepared the foundation for your
work (Almeida, et al.2016). Do not claim someone else's ideas or work as
your own because you might be adjudged plagiarism which is a serious
breach of ethics.
The American Psychological Association (APA) is a popular
style commonly used by researchers in documentation or reference
citation. The APA format is also called the author-date method of
parenthetical documentation or in-text citation
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is using or putting in one's own words to restate
author's ideas, and acknowledging the source to give credit to the original
author (de Belen, 2015). It is used when we want to express someone
else's idea in our own words, hence, consequently weakens the act of
plagiarism.
In paraphrasing, replace a word with a synonym. Paraphrasing
can be longer or shorter than the original source. Changing the sentence
structure is also a technique in paraphrasing