Chapter 5 Locating and Reviewing The Literature

Laguna State Polytechnic University
College of Teacher Education

Graduate Studies and Applied Research
Los Banos, Laguna
Education 201: Advanced Methods of Research
CHAPTER 5
Locating and Reviewing
the Literature
CHAPTER 5: Locating and Reviewing the Literature
5.1 The Importance of a Literature Review

5.2 Types of Source
5.3 Steps in Searching for a Literature
5.4 Ways to do a Literature Search
5.5 Writing the Literature Review Report
5.1 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,
1196)
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).
5.2 Types of Sources
3 Basic Types of Sources

1. General References
2. Primary Sources
3. Secondary Sources
 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.
5.2 Types of Sources
3 Basic Types of Sources

 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.
 Secondary Sources
These refer to publications in which authors describe the work
of others. The most common secondary sources are textbooks.
5.3 Steps in Searching for a Literature
1. Define the research problem as precisely as possible.

2. Look at relevant secondary source.
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.
5.4 Ways to do a Literature Search
Two Ways to do a Literature Search

1. Manually – using the traditional paper approach
2. Electronically – by means of computer.
Computer searches advantages

1. Fast
2. Fairly inexpensive
3. Provide printouts
4. Enable to researchers to search using more than one descriptor
at a time
Related Literature
-also called conceptual literature. The gathering of

literature related to the research clarifies the different
variables being studied.
- The title, paradigm of the study, statement of the

problem, 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)
Related Studies
• Determining whether the research is objective and

empirically-based includes surveying previous studies that
involve similar variables (Cristobal & Cristobal, 2013)
• The studies collected are in the form of theses,

dissertations, or journal articles and 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.
5.5 Writing the Literature Review Report
• Literature reviews consist of an introduction, the body of the

review, and a summary (synthesis)
 Introduction part – the researcher briefly describes the

nature of the research problem and states the research
question.
 The body of the review- reports what others have found or
thought about the research problem.
 Summary (synthesis) – connects the previous studies to the
present study.
Documentation Style
• The American Psychological Association (APA) is a popular style

commonly used by researchers in documentation style. It is also
called the author-date method of parenthetical documentation
or in-text citation.
REMEMBER
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.
Paraphrasing
• Is 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
 It can be longer or shorter than the original source
 Changing the sentence structure.
. . . end of module . . .

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Laguna State Polytechnic University

College of Teacher Education

Education 201: Advanced Methods of Research

5.1 The Importance of a Literature Review

One of the most important early steps in a research project is

3 Basic Types of Sources

3 Basic Types of Sources

1. Define the research problem as precisely as possible.

Two Ways to do a Literature Search

Computer searches advantages

-also called conceptual literature. The gathering of

- The title, paradigm of the study, statement of the

• Determining whether the research is objective and

• The studies collected are in the form of theses,

• In the review of a related study, indicate the name of the

• Literature reviews consist of an introduction, the body of the

 Introduction part – the researcher briefly describes the

• The American Psychological Association (APA) is a popular style

• Is putting in one’s own words to restate author’s ideas, and

• It is used when we want to express someone else’s idea in our

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