INQUIRIES, INVESTIGATIONS AND IMMERSION (SH-III)

First Term – First Quarter

APA VERSION 7, THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, AND LITERATURE SURVEY

Before writing the body of the research paper, it is important to know first the
basics in in-text citations using the APA Writing Style (7th edition) and apply it
throughout the paper. Documenting Sources helps you to avoid plagiarism. Moreover,
using the APA writing style, your research paper will follow a standard format that is
presentable and easy to understand by the readers.

APA Writing Style

The American Psychological Association writing style establishes standards

of written communication concerning the organization of content, writing style, citing
references, and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines. It
provides comprehensive guidelines for writing academic papers in different disciplines.
Traditionally, this style is frequently used by writers and students in business, nursing,
and social sciences like Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and
Criminology.
APA style provides a structure or format for a publication which simplifies the
work of editors and makes it easier for the readers. The APA Style provides readers
also the with cues they can use to follow the writer’s ideas more efficiently and to locate
information of interest to them as well as not be distracted with unfamiliar formatting.
Added to this, it establishes the writer’s credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating
an awareness of your audience and their needs as fellow researchers.
The latest version of the APA Style is the 7th edition which was released in
October 2019.

Documenting or Crediting Sources

According to Ayala (2019), “borrowing information from various sources is not

only an option but a necessity.” When you used a work, an idea, or quoted another
author’s words in your paper, or even received a specific help from someone, you need
to cite and acknowledge them in your works. There is a need to document sources in
order to:
 establish the validity of findings and facts included in the report;
 give proper credit to the creator of the information; and
 provide the audience with information s/he might need or want about the
subject matter that you have borrowed or obtained from another source (“Why
document sources?”)

Moreover, it is to avoid plagiarism. Merriam-webster online dictionary defines the

term “plagiarize” as stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another as your own.
It is like committing literary theft since you are using other’s works without crediting the
source and present it as if it is a new and original idea derived from an existing source.

General Format

In writing and formatting your paper, the general APA Guidelines are:

Format Requirement
Paper Size 8.5”x11” or the short bond paper
Margins 1” on all sides
Font Size/ Font Style San Serif fonts:
11- point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans
Unicode

Serif fonts:
12- point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point
Computer Modern
Spacing Double Spacing
Alignment Flush Left
Paragraph Indentions 5 to 7 spaces
Page Header Top of every page;
For student paper, only the page number is included with
flush right alignment
 The Basics for In-Text Citations

Basically, the In-Text Citations use the “Author-date method” or the author’s last
name and the year of publication. When the citation is information prominent, the
author’s name and year is within the parentheses, and if author prominent, the
author’s name is outside the parentheses while the year is within the parentheses.

e.g. information prominent: The findings in a recent study (Bagnate, 2020) was…
author prominent: Bagnate (2020) has found…

Note:
The abbreviation “e.g.” stands for exempli gratia which means “for example”
while “i.e.” stands for id est which means “in other words.

Table 2.
In-Text Citation Format and Examples

Citation for… Format/Example

An idea, a summary, or a
paraphrase from another last name of author, year of publication: (Bagnate, 2020)
work
Direct quotation from One page: (Villafuerte, 2012, p.4);
another work Multiple pages: (Villafuerte, 2012, pp. 4-5)
According to Monton (2017), “direct quote from author” (p.
234).
Short quotations Monton (2017) stated that “direct quote from author” (p.234).
Likewise, it was suggested that “direct quote from author”
(Monton, 2017, p. 234).
Bagnate (2020) discussed that:
Use block quotes for long quotations. Use a paragraph
indention of ½” as a cue that you are citing the author’s
Long quotations (more words. There is no need to use quotation marks. Still
than 40 words) use a double spacing and do not add a line before and
after the quotation. The page number within the
parenthesis is placed after the punctuation of the quote.
(p.22)
 Instead of pages, you may use other identifying elements
Quotations from sources
like chapter number, a section number; paragraph (para. 1)
without pages
or (paras. 2-3); or table number (Table 5).
According to Alvarez and Seño (2012) …
A work from two authors
….as the result of the study (Alvarez & Seño, 2012).
A Work by Three or More Beniegas et al., (2018) reported…
Authors (Beniegas et al., 2018).
Sources: Park, Kim, Byun, and Oh (2019);
Multiple Works with Park, Kim, Do, Oh, Byun, and Zhang (2016)
similar group of authors Citation: Park, Kim, Oh, et al., (2019);
Park, Kim, Byun, et al., (2016)
Use the title of the books or report: (Basic Accounting, 2009)
Unknown Author Use the title of articles, chapters or web pages: (“About
APA”, 2019)
First citation: American Psychological Association (2019)
Subsequent citations: (APA, 2019)
Organization as an
Author First Citation: (Government Association of Certified Public
Accountants [GACPA], 2019)
Subsequent Citations: (GACPA, 2019)
Two or More Works in the Arrange alphabetically and separate it by semi-colon:
Same Parentheses (Ladesma, 2000; Panopio, 2015)
Authors with the Same Include the first initials of the author with the last name and
Last Name year:
(A. Ladesma, 2000; D. Ladesma, 1999)
Two or More Works by Use lower case letters with the years:
the Same Author in the …study (De la Cruz, 2001a).;
Same Year De la Cruz, (2001b) presented….
Personal Communication include the initial and last name of the communicator and
(interviews, e-mails, the date of the communication
letters, or conversations) (M. Villafuerte, personal communication, March 15, 2020).
Citing Indirect Sources Monton argued that … (as cited in Rejano, 2012, p. 89)
(Monton, 2014, as cited in Rejano, 2012, p.89)
Unknown Author and Use the title in the signal phrase or the first word or two
Unknown Date words of the title in the parenthesis and use the abbreviation
“n.d.”: (“Literature and Arts,” n.d.)
Adapted from https://owl.purdue.edu/
One of the changes in-text citation from the 6th edition to the 7th edition is that all sources with
three authors or more will be attributed using the name of the first author followed by “et al.”
except for those papers that have the same name for the first listed authors. If this will be the
case, you have to list ay many names of the authors as needed that will differentiate the papers,
then use et al afterwards.

Online Resources:

You may visit the following websites for additional information on In-Text
Citations; the APA sixth edition style is also available here:
 Purdue Online Writing Lab at
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introd
uction.html
 CSUDH University Library at https://libguides.csudh.edu/citation/apa-7
 American Psychological Association at https://apastyle.apa.org/

Theoretical Framework

Theory is defined as a “plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or

body of principles offered to explain phenomena.” It is an ideal or hypothetical set of
facts, principles, or circumstances as basis of action. The theoretical framework
consists and presents the theory or theories used as the foundation in a research study.
It strengthens the study as it connects the current study to an existing knowledge and
allows you to describe and limit your generalizations from a phenomenon.

Table 2.
Example of topics and theories that can be applied in the study.

Topic Theory
Leadership style of Managers in Contingency Theory
Private Companies Transformational Leadership Theory
Management Theory (Transactional Theory)
Employee Motivation on ABC McGregor’s Theory X and Y
Company Herzberg Two-factor Theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Literature Survey
 A literature survey or the review of related literature and study are designed to
provide description, summary, and critical evaluation of the sources you have explored
while researching on your topic. It is used to support your study as it demonstrates to
your readers how the current study fits in the larger field of study; how it has been
developed; and how you use previous significant works in your study. This will be
discussed further in the next lesson.

Abadiano (2016) defined literature review as an examination of what has already

been written about your topic. It is a collection of published research about your topic by
recognized scholars and researchers which may provide a background for your problem
and a rationale for your research. Researchers conduct literature review for the purpose
of:
 having a guide to a topic;
 establishing a solid background of the topic;
 knowing what areas of research exist;
 investigating on researchable hypotheses;
 collecting authoritative data on the topic;
 finding new avenues for research direction
 having a springboard of discussion as the researcher may agree or disagree
with the current results;
 making the research study to be empirical.
 having other researchers see the objectivity of the study; and
 having a full understanding of the variables being studied by the researcher;

A literature review gives you information about:

 the research methods used;
 the population and sampling considered;
 the instruments used in gathering data;
 the statistical computation in previous research; and
 provides findings and conclusions of past investigations which you may relate to
your own findings and conclusions.

Sources for Literature Review

In reviewing related literature and studies, researchers can use different sources
available.
 Related Literature which is composed of discussion of facts and principles to which
the propose study is related. It can be local and foreign literatures that are found in
books, encyclopedia, professional journals, magazines, newspapers and other
publications (Mercado, 2013b).

 Related Studies which can be local or foreign studies, inquiries or investigations

that are already conducted to which the present proposed study is related. These
are usually found in unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses, and
dissertations (Mercado, 2013b).

 Database Content or those variety of topics available in databases of Private

School Libraries and Public Libraries.

 Media which may include sound recording, video recordings, television, and radio.

 Government Information or government documents like publication manual,

circulars, memorandums, issuances, and other legal materials.

 Website and Other Digital Resources like Google Scholar, Proquest, Infotrac 100,
iGlibrary Business Expert Press and other websites with a collection of many
database that provides access to thousands of journals, magazines, newspaper, e-
books and other information-content and academic resources

Steps in Reviewing Literature

Cristobal and De la Cruz-Cristobal (2017a) defined review of literature as “a

process of compiling, classifying, and evaluating what other researchers have written on
a certain topic” (p.92). Since it is a process, there are three steps in reviewing your
related literatures (Cristobal and De la Cruz-Cristobal, 2017a, p.95):

1. Finding relevant materials

In reviewing literatures, you should keep in mind the objectives of the
research. Use the different sources available and applicable, then begin with the
latest sources and the most recent as possible. To identify if the literature is
relevant to the research problem, read first the abstract or the summary section
of the research or report.

2. Actual reading
 After selecting your materials, you must thoroughly critique its contents
like:
a. What are the variables used?
b. What are the characteristics or description of the variables?
c. What relationship exist between the variables based on the information
given?
d. How can the information provided in this material be useful for the
current study?

3. Note-taking
The note-taking process is useful for researchers to be more systematic
and organized. It is suggested to prepare index cards on which you can take
down notes before gathering and searching for reference materials so that you
can take notes of the important data in your own words. In each index card, you
should indicate the title of your reference so that it will be easier for you to
consolidate the literatures you gathered. With these, it will help you in
synthesizing and compiling from different references. Also, don’t forget to take
note of the other bibliographic data of the material you are reviewing such as the
author’s name; the name of publisher; year; issue and volume number; web
address; date access for electronic source, and other relevant data needed in
referencing.

In writing your literature review, you do not simply describe, summarize, analyze,
and identify key concepts of the literature but you also synthesize it. To synthesize
means to “combine two or more elements to form a new whole. The “elements” pertains
to the findings of the literature you gather and read; the “new whole” is the conclusion
you draw from those findings.” Thus, you synthesize by comparing & contrasting,
critically evaluating and interpreting the literature to draw conclusions about the findings
in the literature and identify how the literature addresses your research question.

Organizing Literature Review

There are different ways on how you can organize your literature review for a
comprehensive writing and better understanding of your related literature and studies.

 Chronological
The structure of your review follows a trend or a clear chronological order of
development of the previous researches. It can also be by the date of publication. An
example can be development of a theory wherein the author initially conducted a
 study in 1999, then tested the same in 2001, and conducted further studies in 2003.

 Thematic or Conceptual Categories

The literature review is organized around a topic or issue, rather than the
progression of time. Here the researcher must identify the themes or key context,
topic, ideas, or pattern of the literature to organize it thematically. For example, all
related literature regarding the role of technology in teaching.

 Methodological
The review of literature is organized based on the methods used by the
researchers. An example can be looking into the cultural differences of Indigenous
people of Luzon (e.g. observation, interview, design).

Online Sources:

You may visit the following websites and search for free downloadable
published academic journal, articles, peer reviews, and other literatures you can
read and use for your literature review:
 Academia.edu at https://www.academia.edu/
 ResearchGate at https://www.researchgate.net/
 ScienceDirect at https://www.sciencedirect.com/
 Semantic Scholar at https://www.semanticscholar.org/

Reference:

Zulueta, Z. (2020). Module for Inquiries, Investigations and Immersion. Manuel S.

Enverga University Foundation.