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Session Planning Guide

Title: Reviewing Literature and Sources

Rationale:
The subject enables the students to search and explore relevant
literature and documents that will strengthen the chosen study. Likewise,
helps researchers learn what others have written about a topic and will also
provide researchers the results of other related studies, Callo, E. et. al. (2019)
Objectives:
At the end of the session, the students are expected to:
1. discuss the nature of literature review.
2. analyze the functions and importance of literature review.
3. consider the steps in reviewing and writing literature.
4. generalize some guidelines in searching, writing and evaluating literature
review.
5. demonstrate the will to organize reviewed conceptual research and research
literature.
Recognize:
Thank you for that introduction, learning manager. I just want to add a
very important information about your professor today. I’m a very proud and
loving wife of retired Police Col. Michael Ishibashi Baysa, a proud member of
PNPA Magiting Class of 1983.
How are the future generals of the Republic of the Philippines?
I am very happy to see you today especially so that everybody is
present. This is a simple gesture of your willingness to learn.
Refresh:
Can you give one word which you can still remember from your lesson
yesterday, Student A? What about an insights learned, Student B? Thank you
very much.
Given the template of an action research, what do you think is our
session for today, Student C? Do you have any idea on this, Student D? How
is it related in the preparation of an Action Research, Student E?
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Relate (Part I. Synchronous)

Yes, you are correct when you said that our session is about reviewing
literature and sources. From this session, the following will be considered:
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
• To discuss the nature of literature review.
• To identify the functions and importance of literature review.
• To determine the steps in reviewing and writing literature.
• To analyze some guidelines in writing literature review.

Literature Review Definition

• Systematic study, classify, and locate materials, articles, documents, and
sources that contain information about your research topic.
• Written summary of journal articles, books, and other documents that
describes the past and current state of information in the topic of your
research study (Creswell, 2012).
• An account or synthesis of what has been published on a topic by accredited
scholars and researchers.

Functions/Importance
• 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.
• Documents how the study adds to the existing literature (McMillan, 2016).
• provides the researcher with the information about past researches related to
the intended study.
• gives the researcher a feeling of confidence as all constructs/information
related to the study are at hand.
• provides findings and conclusions of past investigations which the researcher
may relate to his own findings and conclusions.

Searching, reading and evaluating sources

• Dialogue with different ideas that others (meaning authors) have already
provided or shown
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1. Search for Sources: papers, books, manuscripts, reports, journal articles

2. Read!
3. Evaluate your source: its credibility, significance, relevance and contribution
to your topic.

SOURCES: papers, books, manuscripts, reports, journal articles

SOURCES FOR LITERATURE REVIEW

LIBRARIES School libraries, public libraries, books,

references, newspapers, etc.

JOURNALS Jstor, EBSCOHost, Google Scholar,

Academia, ResearchGate, etc.

WORLD Google, Google Books, Company Websites,

WIDE WEB University Web pages, online encyclopedia,
etc.

ARCHIVES Personal collections, institutional records,

etc.

READING: you don’t need to read the whole book, only that part of the book
or
research that you wish to incorporate or challenge in your own study.
• Read specific sections
• Do you plan to look at the big picture of the article’s main points or at
the specific details of the variables used?
• Structural reading: read by parts
• Close reading: actively engage and dialogue with the text – ask
questions, e.g. why did the authors use this idea, etc.
EVALUATION: Critical Evaluation – learn how to evaluate papers and the
opinions, experiences theories and ideas of what is good or bad, desirable
and undesirable within the problem area.

• Integrative thinking – use ideas from different perspectives, think of

possible alternative explanations using interdisciplinary lenses

Words to Consider
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Conceptual Research
- Pertains to articles or books written by authorities giving their
opinions, experiences theories and ideas of what is good or bad,
desirable and undesirable within the problem area.

Research Literature
- 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.
Reflect:
What reflections can you give? Are the lessons discussed would somehow
improve your understanding and knowledge on the role of Reviewing
Literature and Sources in the completion of your action research?
Student A: After an idea/concept, topic/research problem has been
identified, the next step is to search for relevant literature
and
sources.
Student B: Reviewing literature and studies would strengthen the
chosen
study.
Student C: Make the paper more authoritative.
Student D: Provide complete information about the research topic and,
Student E: Synthesis of what had been published by accredited
Scholars
and researchers.

Review:
Can I request anyone to make a recapitulation of what has been discussed?
The following are emphasized:
Student A: Literature Review is a systematic study which includes
classifying and locating materials, archives, documents and
sources that contain information about a research topic.
Student B: Literature review is a written summary of journal, articles,
books and other documents that describe the past and
current
state of information in the topic of the research study.
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Student C: Literature is an account or synthesis of what has been

published on a topic by accredited scholars and
researchers.
Student D: Searching, reading and evaluating sources play a very
important role in coming up with comprehensive, robust and

rich related literature.

Student E: In searching, you can use sources like libraries, world-wide
web and archives.
Student F: In reading, you can read by sections.
Student G: In evaluation, use integrative thinking, use ideas from
different
perspectives, think of possible alternative explanations
using
inter-disciplinary lenses.
Rate:
I can rate the class as very good. All are engaged in the discussion.
Rest:
Before I end this session, please take note of your performance task which
will
be submitted after the lecture on problem formulation.

Direction: Please search, read and evaluate sources.

Using the group assigned to you, look for 3 theories and relate
with your study; 5 conceptual research and 5 research literature. These
will be very important in the completion of chapters 1-3. In addition,
please go over the details of the session guide (Part II). It will be
emailed to you.
References:
McCombes, S. (2019). How to write a Literature Review?
Trinidad, E. T. (2018). Researching Philippine realities: guide to qualitative,
quantitative, and humanities research. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila
University Press.

Yazon, A. D. (2019). Learning Guide in Methods of Research,

Wiseman’s Books Trading, Inc.
Resources:
Laptop
Cellphone
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Manuscript

Rehearse:
Is the audio loud and clear?
Please get ready for the presentation. Take note about the 2 hours online
synchronous presentation is observed. Please remind me if we exceeded with the
prescribed time.
(Part II. Asynchronous)
How to write a literature review?

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a

specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge,
allowing researchers to identify relevant theories, methods, and
gaps in the existing research. Writing a literature review involves
finding relevant publications (such as books and journal
articles), critically analyzing them, and explaining what you
found. There are five key steps:

Search for relevant literature

1. Evaluate sources
2. Identify themes, debates and gaps
3. Outline the structure
4. Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources – it

analyzes, synthesizes, and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the
state of knowledge on the subject.

Why write a literature review?

When you write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper, researchers will
have to conduct a literature review to situate research within existing
knowledge. The literature review gives individual a chance to:

 demonstrate familiarity with the topic and scholarly context

 develop a theoretical framework and methodology for the research
 position yourself in relation to other researchers and theorists
 show how the research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate

Researchers might also have to write a literature review as a stand-alone

assignment. In this case, the purpose is to evaluate the current state of
research and demonstrate knowledge of scholarly debates around a topic.
The content will look slightly different in each case, but the process of
conducting a literature review follows the same steps.
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Step 1: Search for relevant literature

Before we begin searching for literature, we need a clearly
defined topic.
If we are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or
research paper, we will search for literature related to the research
problem and questions.

If writing a literature review as a stand-alone assignment, we will have

to choose a focus and develop a central question to direct the search.
Unlike a dissertation research question, this question has to be
answerable without collecting original data. We should be able to
answer it based only on a review of existing publications.

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question.
Include each of the key concepts or variables we are interested in, and
list any synonyms and related terms. We can add to this list if we
discover new keywords in the process of the literature search.

Step 2: Evaluate and select sources

We probably won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been
written on the topic – we have to evaluate which sources are most
relevant to the questions.

For each publication, ask yourself:

 What question or problem is the author addressing?

 What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
 What are the key theories, models and methods? Does the research
use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
 What are the results and conclusions of the study?
 How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it
confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
 How does the publication contribute to your understanding of the topic?
What are its key insights and arguments?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible, and make sure you read any
landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.
You can find out how many times an article has been cited on Google
Scholar – a high citation count means the article has been influential in the
field, and should certainly be included in your literature review.
The scope of your review will depend on your topic and discipline: in the
sciences you usually only review recent literature, but in the humanities
you might take a long historical perspective (for example, to trace how a
concept has changed in meaning over time).

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes
that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.
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It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid

plagiarism. It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography, where we
compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and
analysis for each source. This helps you remember what we read and
saves time later in the process.
We can use our free citation generator to quickly create correct and
consistent APA citations or MLA format citations.

Step 3: Identify themes, debates, and gaps

To begin organizing the literature review’s argument and structure, we
need to understand the connections and relationships between the
sources we’ve read. Based on reading and notes, we can look for:
 Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain
approaches become more or less popular over time?
 Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
 Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
 Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that
changed the direction of the field?
 Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that
need to be addressed?
This step will help us work out the structure of the literature review and (if
applicable) show how our own research will contribute to existing
knowledge.

Step 4: Outline your literature review’s structure

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a
literature review. We should have a rough idea of our strategy before
we start writing.
Depending on the length of literature review, we can combine several
of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be
thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological
The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic
over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid
simply listing and summarizing sources in order. Try to analyze
patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction
of the field. Give our interpretation of how and why certain
developments occurred.

Thematic
If we have found some recurring central themes, we can
organize literature review into subsections that address different
aspects of the topic.
For example, if we are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant
health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy,
language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic
access.
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Methodological
If we draw sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety
of research methods, we might want to compare the results and
conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:
 Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative
research
 Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus
theoretical scholarship
 Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical
A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical
framework. We can use it to discuss various theories, models, and
definitions of key concepts.
We might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or
combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for our
research.

Step 5: Write your literature review

Like any other academic text, the literature review should have
an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion. What we include in each
depends on the objective of the literature review.

Introduction
The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the
literature review.

Body
Depending on the length of literature review, we might want to divide
the body into subsections. We can use a subheading for each theme,
time period, or methodological approach.
As we write, we can follow these tips:
 Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of
each source and combine them into a coherent whole
 Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers—add
your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of
findings in relation to the literature as a whole
 Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of sources
 Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic
sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts.

Conclusion
In the conclusion, we should summarize the key findings we have
taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

Other Guidelines in Writing the RRL

1. Subheading topics/titles should be indicated and underlined; similar ideas

relevant or have bearings to the present work should be consolidated
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under the single heading topic like “Competence on Workmanship of

Personnel”. See information /ideas referring to the subtopic regardless of
research categories and different authors should be placed under this
topic.
2. Discussion continues on flowing indicating the reference with surname of
the authors and year published.
Ex.
Competence on Workmanship of Personnel
Is reiterated by Reyes (2004) which was cited in the article of
Ramos (2018), any personnel should possess great competence,
dedication and commitment in the performance of their duties and
functions.

(Note: Continuous discussion on some ideas referring to the subtopic

indicating
different authors with year published.)

3. If the reference/book has more than two authors or multiple authors, take
the
surname of the first author mentioned and use et. al.
Ex. Reyes, Liza F., Ramos, Alfred F., and Villanueva, Ding.
Use: Reyes F. et. al. (2019)

4. Use transitional devices like in the same view; according to; based on the
write up of; similarly; in the conclusion of; parallel to that; as professed by;

These are common expressions for the continuity of discussion

having the same essence of ideas significantly related to the subheading
topic.

5. Avoid plagiarism like copying/duplicating word from or expression from

authors ideas; instead to be safe, do the paraphrasing – the ideas are still
there but have your own construction in writing your RRL.

6. 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.
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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,

and acknowledging the sources 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.

Example:
Concept:
Kiddie Junior Fire Marshal Program
Title:
Kiddie Junior Fire Marshal Program’s Implementation: Basis for
Sustainability Framework
Statement of the Problem:
This study assessed the implementation of the kiddie Junior Fire
Marshal Program as basis for a proposed sustainability framework.
Specifically, this study sought answers to the following questions:

1. How is the Kiddie Junior Fire Marshal Program implemented in

terms of:

a. Context;

b. Input;

c. Process; and

d. Product?

2. What are the issues and challenges that hampered the

implementation of the Kiddie Junior Fire Marshal?
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3. What action plan can be proposed based on the findings of the

study?

Conceptual Framework
This study is anchored on one of the most useful approaches to
educational evaluation which is known as the CIPP, or Context, Input,
Process and Product approach, which was developed by Stufflebeam (1983).
This provides a systematic way of looking at many different aspects of the
curriculum development process. Context includes
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________, Input refers to
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________. Process
includes _____________________________________________________.
Product focuses
_____________________________________________________________
The CIPP model of Evaluation

INPUT PROCESS PRODUCT

CONTEXT

(Describe the model, relate it with the study then discuss the
interrelationship among the variables.)

Review of Related Literature

 Conceptual Research
CIPP model is an evaluation model for curriculum evaluation which
includes four elements: C– Context, I– Input, P– Process and P– Product
Stufflebeam (1983). CIPP model can be applied in school evaluation. Context
refers to the background, history, goals and objectives of the school. Input
refers to material and human resources needed for effective functioning of the
school. Process refers to implementation of different school practices. Product
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refers to the quality of students learning and its usefulness for the individual
and for society.

 Research literature:

Context:
Stufflebeam (1983) as reiterated by ShinkField (2007) mentioned that
context evaluation helps to assess the needs and opportunities within a define
context or environment.

Similarly, Kwan Tiu (2018) said that, the context evaluation

_________________________________________________________
_________________.
Also, Tenorio (2020) stated that,
_______________________________
_________________________________________________________
_______.

Input:
Carpio (2018) stated that, ______________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________,

Process:
According to the article written by Hidalgo (2016),
________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________.

Product:
Ramos (2017) said that, ____________________________________
_________________________________________________________

(Other RRL related to the study)

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