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PRACTICAL RESEARCH 1
Quarter 1- Module 4:
Learning from Others and
Reviewing the Literature

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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Lesson Literature Review

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Literature is an oral or written record of man’s significant experiences that are

expressed in an ordinary manner. It is conveyed directly or indirectly. Direct
expressions is in books, journals, periodic papers, and online reading materials.
Indirect expressions are not written or spoken at all but is mirror image of his
environment (Ridley 2012).
The Review of Related Literature is one of the main components of a research
study, specifically in the second chapter. It gives an overview of all the writings relative
to a specific topic (Prieto, Naval & Carey, 2017). Therefore, selecting the right sources
for the literature review is very important in producing a quality research paper .

What’s In?

In the previous lessons, you learned the importance of understanding the value of
qualitative research: its kinds, characteristics, uses, strengths, weaknesses,
specificity, and the feasibility of the study. A good introductory page is a baseline
statement of what and how a paper should go fluidly. However, a review of related
literature will strengthen your claims of a systematic, purposeful, and well-defined
research paper. In this part, you will be exploring the process or reviewing related
literatures.

What is New?

Activity 1.1
Picture Analysis
Directions: Examine the image below. What does it tell you?

What Is It?
A review of related literature is the process of collecting, selecting, and reading
books, journals, reports, abstracts, and other reference materials. The following
information may be collected:

1. Background knowledge about the problem and associated ideas.

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2. Theories that give details of the presence of the problem and certain variables
that is connected to the problem.
3. Data that prove the occurrence and gravity of the problem
4. Detailed and broad results of related studies
5. Gaps and recommendations for additional study specified in related studies

The significance and rationale of related literature and studies is to find out the
similarities and differences between the past and present studies, to get ideas into the
critical and controversial aspects of the problem. It helps recognize and define a
research problem. It gives the researcher a background analysis aspect, which have
been studied. It guides the researcher on what to do on the mechanism of the research
methods; this also provides the thoughts to advance with the study until its conclusion.
It avoids redundant duplication of a study. Moreover, reading extensively will enrich
your background knowledge on your research topic that will enable you to establish a
good groundwork or course of your research endeavor.

What’s More?

Activity 1.2

Write on a sheet of paper a topic you are most interested to explore. Enumerate
at least three ways on how you will look for the information and data needed about the
chosen topic. Share important information that you would like to probe on the chosen
subject. For example, the topic is gender inequality among TVL (Technical Vocational
Technology) learners. What are you interested most? Is it the difference in quantity of
work? Is it the difference in quality of work? Alternatively, is it the type of PPE (Personal
Protective equipment)?

Follow the example and fill in your answers in separate sheet.

Introduction: What is the topic of my literature review?

Example: Gender Inequality among TVL Learners

Topic Sentence:
Example: The number of learners, quality of work, quantity of work, and types of PPE.

My sources (works to be read, analyzed and cited)

Example: Bagale, S. (2016). Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Technical and
Vocation Education and Training. Journal of Training and Development, 2(Ii), 25–32.
https://doi.org/10.3126/jtd.v2i0.15435

Body: What are the main points/arguments of my sources? How are these points
supported?
Example:
Source 1: Bagale found out that more women are included in the traditional technical
vocational programs, whereas there is poor participation in non-traditional areas.

Source 2: Mustapha pointed out that there is gender imbalance in the technical
vocational field.
Body: Similarities in (comparing) two or more of the articles:
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Example: Bagale and Mustapha agreed that there are still gender inequalities in the
technical vocational field and that women are still concentrated in certain types of area.

Body: Differences in (contrasting) in two or more of the articles:

Example: Bagale and Mustapha disagree on the factors that contributes and are
affected by the gender inequality issues on technical vocational majors.

Conclusion: Summarizing
Example: This literature review was conducted to analyze opposing perspectives on
gender inequality among technical vocational learners.

Why is the topic of this literature review important and/or what should be the next step
of this study?
Example: Further research is needed to examine recent statistics on gender inequality
among TVL learners in the senior high schools of this division as compared to others
in this region.

What I Can Do?

Activity 1.3
Visit webpages, journals, and similar on-line materials that has published theses
and dissertations. Examine the Review of Related Literature section of these materials
and based on what you have learned about RRL, comment on how these appear in
the manuscript. Produce a written copy of your observations about the RRL section in
the manuscript and share this with your teacher and classmates.

Lesson Criteria in Selecting, Citing,

2 and Synthesizing Related
Literature

There are a lot of ways to bring in the flow of literature review that will help learners
develop their research. Frequently asked questions on how to proceed in the conduct
of literature review includes: how to look for sources, how many sources should be
cited, how to discuss ideas taken from the studies cited, how to cite authors, and
further. The aim of this lesson is to present a step-by-step guide in undertaking a
review of literature to facilitate your understanding.
What’s In?

In the previous lesson, you learned the definition, importance and purpose of literature
review. An effective literature review selects the right and specific write ups that give
close information to an identified topic, scrutinize and synthesize content about key
themes or issues, cites properly authors of information gathered, identify similarities
and differences between chosen literatures and a lot more. Selecting, citing and
synthesizing related literature needs a thorough development of skills in searching,
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reading, paraphrasing, writing, and even creating your own page of article after
reviewing a whole bunch of related sources.
What’s New?

Activity 2.1 Text Development

Direction: Look back into one period of your life when you were so eager to know
something. What did you do to satisfy your desire to know about such thing? In a
separate sheet, write a brief memoir on your knowledge seeking.

What Is It?
Here are questions to guide you in this endeavor of selecting, citing, and synthesizing
related literature.
• What is your prior knowledge about your research topic?
• What do you have to critically say about your prior knowledge on the
topic?
• What do you want to know more about your topic?
• Did anyone do a similar research as yours?
• What does your research have that other researches do not?
• Who are these authors who have works which has more or less same
ideas as yours?

Exposed to a wide source of facts and conditioned by a limited timeframe during

the conduct of study, it is necessary that you have a guided approach in reading or
reviewing various literature works that are related to your research topic. Here are
some points to consider in an effective literature review:

Step 1: Search for the Literature

There are many sources of information available such as the Internet, books, peer-
reviewed articles in journals, publications, unpublished works like theses and
dissertations (detailed and comprehensive accounts of a research work submitted for
a higher degree at a university), conference proceedings (brief summaries of research
work presented at conferences),books, leaflets, posters, blogs, and other library
materials offline and online. Some websites might give valuable information such as
Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, and the likes but they are not as dependable as other
sources of knowledge since it can be edited and considered not a scholarly article
(Baraceros, 2016). Therefore, there is a need to carefully evaluate online sources as
to accuracy and veracity of information. Furthermore, the following are key points in
searching literature:
1. In gathering sources, have focus, a clearly indicated scope and purpose of the
review.
2. Isolate and centre your research on key themes or issues related to your own
research interests.
3. Choose articles which are closely related to your research interest.
4. Choose studies conducted by experts and authorities in that same field of
knowledge with your study.
5. Peer-reviewed materials are much preferable than general sources of ideas.
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Step 2: Reading and Citing Source of Material

In reviewing related literature, you come up with ideas borrowed from someone
else; therefore, it is but polite, honesty, and courtesy to learn to acknowledge other
people’s intellectual rights and to avoid plagiarism. The following are three terms to
express recognition of author’s ownership of borrowed ideas (Sharp, 2012).
1. Acknowledgment. It identifies individuals who have contributed to the making
of the manuscript, written at the start of the paper.
2. References or Bibliography. A whole list of literary materials including all books,
journal, theses, and dissertations along with other sources mentioned above.
References are arranged alphabetically in some papers or in order of sequence
as it comes out in the paper. This holds the summary of the information of all of
your sources. Information needed in making the referencing list involves the
following:
a. Author’s name
b. Date of the publication of the source.
c. Page number where you found the information.
d. Publisher
e. Place of Publishing
f. Volume
g. Edition
h. Other relevant information –date of access

Example of References

Baptista, P. Benefits to Teaching Hydroponics in the Classroom. August 15, 2014.

http://blog.zipgrow.com/teaching-hydroponics-in-the-classroom/

Benton,J.J.2004.Hydroponics. A practical guide for the soiless grower.2nd

Edition,CRC press pp.35-150.

Brechner, M. Floating Hydroponics: A Guide to Student Experiments Growing Plants

without Soil. Cornell University. http://csip.cornell.edu.

Divina, J. C. 2015. Lettuce Production Guide. Department of Agriculture. Bureau of

Plant Industry-National Crop Research and Development Center.
Retrievedfromhttp://bpi.da.gov.ph/bpi/images/Production_guide/pdf/Lettuce.pdf.
Accessed 12/7/2018

3. Citation, or In-text-citation. Referring author within the main body of the text.
Citations can be done by paraphrasing, summarizing, or through quotations. It
can be written in the beginning of a text, between the text, or at the last part of
the paragraph. Examples are shown:

Sanchez (2015) found out building food systems that are more
sustainable, resilient and responsive …

A study by Chojnacka (2012) revealed that extracts derived from algae

contain such components as polysaccharides
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This planting system is a sustainable alternative that reduces

dependence on water and fertilizer and requires less space (Alshrouf, 2017),
making it ideal in urban places.

Productivity is declining as the country is facing a burgeoning population

of more than a hundred million, where majority of Filipinos are suffering from
malnutrition (Briones, et al, 2017).

There are three basic methods of referencing the author referred in your paper.
These are the APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language
Association), and the Chicago Manual Style. In this module, we will be focusing on
the two most commonly used styles of referencing. Moreover, between the two, APA
is the most frequently used within the social sciences in citing various sources. The
following table shows examples of MLA and APA styles of referencing:

Features in APA System MLA System

writing
Author’s name Carreon, J.B. Carreon, Janice B.
Title of the Phenombased learning: Phenombased Learning: The
reading material the new approach New Approach; or Phenombased
Learning: The
New Approach
Copyright date Carreon, J.B. 2019. Carreon, Janice B.
Phenombased learning: Phenombased Learning: The New
the new approach. Approach. EduTech
EduTech Journal. Journal. Wordstar Press.2016.
Wordstar Press Inc. Manila, Philippines
Manila, Philippines
What have you noticed in the styles of writing the above entries?
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Creating or synthesizing your review of related literature

Developing your review of related literature by gathering ideas from other
researches can be done by some patterns or techniques like paraphrasing, quoting,
and summarizing it. In doing so, you may either change the arrangement of ideas,
structures of language by using synonyms, changing format of words by comparison
contrast, chronological order, passive-active sentences, inductive-deductive order, or
by fusing opinions with the author’s ideas. In quoting, a part of an author’s words is
repeated in writing but the page number of copied text should be written, ideas must
be essential and quoted judiciously, meaning with full understanding. Summarizing is
a shortened version of the original text expressed in your own language, picking only
the most important details of the text. Paraphrasing on the other hand permits you to
explain the idea in your own words.

What’s More? (Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper encoded)

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Activity 2.2
Directions: The following entries in each box are essential in writing references. The
headings in each table are examples of correct format of referencing. Fill in the table
with the data provided in the headings as guide. Arrange the entries in proper order,
use appropriate format using APA writing style (i.e. underline or italicize if necessary).

Print Sources
Book (one author) Example: Simban, J.H. (2012). Essentials of Hydroponics Farming.
Cebu City, Philippines: Digital Books.

Author’s Last First Initial Middle (Publication Book Title Place of Publisher
Name Initial Date) Publication:

Book (two to more than three authors) – print source

Example of two authors: Roble, M. J., & Johnson, L. (2010). India (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Marshall. Example of three authors: Carreon, A., Marcos, M., & Genobaten,
D. (2009). Work Under Pressure. Chicago, IL: Wilcon Press.

Example of more than six authors: Benson, B., Aller, C., Camelot, D., David, E.,
Ebiola, F., Flores, G., Harison, I. (1994). The World Beneath. Los Angeles, USA:
Paramoud Era Press.
Author1’s First Middle Author2’s First Middle Author3’s First Middle Author4’s First Middle
Last Initial Initial Last Initial Initial Last Initial Initial Last Initial Initial
Name Name Name Name

Author5’s First Middle Author6’s First Middle (Publication Book Place of Publisher
Last Name Initial Initial Last Name Initial Initial Date) Title Publication:
Initial

Scholarly Journal Article - Internet

Example Scholarly Journal: Godlowska, 2016. Plant growth biostimulants based on
different methods of seaweed extraction with water . Hindawi Publishing Corporation
BioMed Research International Volume 2016, Article ID 5973760, 11 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5973760
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Author Last First Initial Middle Initial (Publication date) Article Title Magazine/Scholarly DOI or Article
Name Journal Title URL

Encyclopedia Article - Internet

Example: Chulz, H. K. (2015). Phytoremediation. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/phytoremediation
Author Last Name First Initial (Publication date) if Article Title Encyclopedia Title URL
given

Activity 2.3

A paraphrase restates another’s idea (or your own previously published idea)
in your own words. Paraphrasing allows you to summarize and synthesize information
from one or more sources, focus on significant information, and compare and contrast
relevant details. Published authors paraphrase their sources most of the time, rather
than directly quoting the sources; student authors should emulate this practice by
paraphrasing more than directly quoting.

PARAPHRASING ACTIVITIES Part 1

Read the original text below. Enclose in parenthesis the words that should not be
changed when paraphrasing. Underline which should be changed.

A biostimulant is an organic material that, when applied in small quantities,

enhances plant growth and development such that the response cannot be attributed
to the application of traditional plant nutrients (Sharma et.al., 2011).

(Source: Sharma, S.H. Lyons, G. Mc. Roberts C. 2011. Biostimulant activity of brown
seaweed species from Strangford Lough: compositional analyses of
polysaccharides and bioassay of extracts using mung bean (Vigno mungo L.)
and pak choi (Brassica rapa chinensis L.). Springer Science+Business Media
B.V. 2011 J Appl Phycol (2012) 24:1081–1091 DOI 10.1007/s10811-0119737)
Part 2

Between the two paraphrases below, which statement best provides the most
suitable paraphrase of the original text above? Further, justify your answer using
sentence structure and changes in keywords.

Paraphrase 1

An organic material that can promote plant growth and development which is
not caused by spraying of usual plant fertilizers are called biostimulants (Sharma et.al.,
2011).
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Paraphrase 2

A bio stimulant makes a plant grow beautifully and bigger when added with
traditional plant nutrient (Sharma et.al., 2011).

Part 3

Find the synonym of the highlighted italicized words in Paraphrase 2.

Attaining food security and reduction of poverty has been the continuing
vision of our country (Balisacan, 2003). Despite being dubbed as a country blessed
with bountiful resources, the incidence of poverty due to rapidly increasing
population is an issue (Dacuycuy, 2018).

Part 4

Construct a paraphrase. Examine the original text below and build a

paraphrase from the range of phrases provided.

Philippines is an agricultural country. Yet, productivity is declining as the country

is facing a burgeoning population of more than a hundred million, where majority of
Filipinos are suffering from malnutrition (Briones, et al, 2017). According to Sanchez
Jr, F. C. (2015) building food systems that are more sustainable, resilient and
responsive should be the top priority. The production innovations have been evolving
more and more towards organic, sustainable or environmentally friendly systems.

What I Can Do?

Activity 2.4

Read other sources of information, at least five, related to your chosen research
topic in online libraries, databases, and other sources. Cite portions of the articles that
are close to your chosen interest of study. Keep in mind and apply what you have
learned about in-text citation and referencing style. List and arrange the sources in
alphabetical order to create REFERENCES using the APA Referencing style.

Lesson Ethical Standards in Writing

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The ethical standards of research establish the values and expectations of a
research so that information generated is written accurately and appropriately in
accordance to the highest moral principles of research. These ethical standards are
governed by core values of integrity, confidentiality, anonymity, and privacy through
informed consent, voluntary participation, beneficence, justice, and rights to review. It
is important to adhere to ethical principles in order to protect the dignity, rights and
welfare of research participants. These principles are honesty, integrity,
trustworthiness, openness, carefulness, respect for intellectual property, and social
and legal responsibility.
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This lesson introduces you to the ethical standards of research before, during,
and after the conduct of study, conflicts that might arise while carrying out the research,
and possible solutions to address it.

What’s In?

In the previous lessons, you learned the different manners and styles of
referencing, or giving credit to owners of ideas borrowed within the span of research.
Such referencing acts will make your study reliable and acceptable in the research
community once evaluated by an ethics review committee which sets out the standards
for research in each forum or platform where you share and present your study. This
part will also give you an idea about the researcher’s responsibilities towards
participants or respondents, common difficulties in the conduct of research, possible
solutions to answer it or minimize risks, conflicting values, and other ethical issues that
might engulfed the research process.

Activity 3.1
Mapping Out Issues
Directions: Write/draw near the image issues you are most likely to experience in
conducting research. Draw a line connecting the images if you think they are somehow
If issues are associated.

School

Home Friends

Me

What’s New?

During the course of the conduct of research, common difficulties may arise that
will greatly affect the result of your research. As a researcher, one must be adept
enough to foresee possible challenges to your research so that it will be resolved
sooner. Below is a summary of difficulties, challenges, and / or issues you may
encounter.
1. Unavailability of respondents
2. Non-cooperation or refusal of respondents to answer questions
3. Failure of respondents to remember data or give honest responses
4. Delayed or failure in returning questionnaires with responses
5. Incomplete documents and records
6. Unscientific data
7. No local data are available
8. Lacking instruments
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9. Communication problems
10. Funds are tight

Activity 3.2
Situational Analysis
Directions. Choose three from the above summary of difficulties and try resolving the
conflict. Use a separate answer sheet.
Identify the Facts

Issues / Challenges Principle in Conflict Options / Solutions

Ex. Unavailability of Voluntary Write a letter in advance to the head
respondents participation of office of your sampling area,
asking permission to conduct a
survey. Provide a letter of consent of
the respondents

What Is It?
“In every problem, there is a simple and plausible solution’, an adage once says. Here are
some tips to minimize problems in conducting research:
1. Ensure available funds and budget for study to be conducted.
2. Team members should know their assigned tasks well.
3. Identify respondents ahead of time and maintain a list of contact lines and
addresses to easily follow them up.
4. Draft a clear and reliable timeline of activities
5. Reproduce copies of essential documents always.
6. Ask for permits always before conducting any activity.
7. Conduct ocular inspection of research or sampling site ahead of time.
8. Always send emails, communications and appointments beforehand.
9. Have a clear written agreement with all participating persons, agencies, and areas.
10. Bear in mind the objectives of the study and be flexible in adjusting to present
conditions when necessary.

Scientific misconduct might arise when ethical standards are not followed such as the
following:
1. Plagiarism. This refers to fraudulent acts that entail claiming another person’s
ideas, work or publication violating intellectual property rights by stealing and
dishonesty. This usually happens in scientific publications.
2. Fabrication of data. It involves producing data without an actual experimentation
or altering data in recording with the intent to fit them to desired results.
3. Falsification of data. Entails faulty gathering of data due to negligence and
carelessness which lead to errors in measurement or instrument use. Error may
also be caused by inappropriate application of treatment to the subjects and
poor data recording.
4. Non-publication of data. In contrast with fabrication and falsification, this
involves choosing not to include data because they do not conform to the well-
established body of knowledge or are unsupportive of the research hypothesis.
Only the results that do not reject the hypothesis are reported and published.
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To avoid such encounters and to ensure ethical standards are followed, ethics
review committees usually require research studies to undergo review
proceedings by submission of pertinent documents that will verify the truthfulness
of data, information, and paper presented. The following are some of these:
1. Checklist for Adult Sponsors which includes parents’ consent and
advisers’ consent.
2. Student Checklist which tell learners information, consent and ensure
student safety.
3. Human Participant’s Form which provides information for description,
recruitment, protection of privacy, and informed consent process.
4. For scientific researches: Research Institution and Qualified Scientists
Form, Human Participants form, Vertebrate Animals Form, Potentially
Hazardous Biological Agents Form, and Hazardous Chemical
Activities Form.
5. Research Plan which discusses in summary the rationale, hypotheses,
methods, risk and safety, data analysis, and references or bibliography.
6. Risk Assessment Form which evaluates the extent of hazards posed by
the conduct of research. It includes assessing safety of respondents, or
sampling locale, or in the events of scientific studies, the biosafety hazards
like methods of disposing chemical and biological agents, drug dosages,
and delicate instrument use.
7. Research Abstract which is not more than 250 words that clearly and
concisely state the purpose, procedures, data collected, and conclusions of
the research.
8. Research Logbook with start and end dates, pictures, documentations,
notes during the course of research that shows detailed and accurate
processes.
What’s More?
To show a concrete example of how ethics review committees conduct
assessment, here is an example of an Ethics Review Committee Application Form.
The format may vary according to the agency upholding the review.
Activity 3.3
As we continue to unfold the mysteries of conducting reliable and factual study,
keep in mind your topic or research interest in the previous lesson. Give only available
information on the steps to take in fulfilling your research endeavor. Based on your
understanding about ethics in research, please complete this form.

Date of Application: _______

Research Team Leader:
Members:
Research Title:
Research Goals: Write down your research question, rationale,
significance, plan to do with your findings, and questions ask participants.
Place, Date/ Time and Duration of Study:
Data Collection Methods and Study Participants:
Data Collection Method
Recruitment of participants / Sampling Procedure:
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Informed consent: list ways to ensure respondent participation as safe

Confidentiality agreement: list ways to ensure confidentiality, privacy, and safety of
participants and data collected.

Risk Assessment: list means of ensuring safety in materials, instruments, area, and
substances used.
Signature of Team Members:

What I Can Do?

Activity 3.4
Continuing your research of interest, consider yourself as a researcher following
the ethical standards of research. Construct a letter for your target participants, stating
your agreement and their rights as respondents of your study. Write your letter of
informed consent in a separate paper. Below is an example.

September 30, 2019

The Respondent
Opol NSTS

Dear Sir/Ma’am:

The undersigned is a Grade 11 student taking Practical Research I. As a requirement,

I am conducting a research entitled “Student Satisfaction on Food Services Provided
by the School Canteens of Opol District”
In connection with this, I am asking for your time, and voluntary effort to answer
the questionnaire that are important for the completion of the study. Rest assured that
all data gathered from you will be kept in the highest level of confidentiality. Your
positive response will be valuable contribution for the success of the study and will be
highly appreciated. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Erika P. Bucag