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III.

Learning Area: READING ON RELATED STUDIES

The Review of Literature is the process of compiling, classifying and


evaluating what other researchers have written on a certain topic. Literature
review is integral part of entire research process and makes valuable
contribution to every operational step.

Functions of Review of Literature and studies

1. To provide justification of the study


2. To identify gaps, problems and needs of the related studies
3. To provide rationale of the study as well as the reasons of
conducting the study.
4. To have basis that will be used to support findings of the study

Procedure for reviewing the literature:

i) search for existing literature in your area of study;

ii) Review the literature selected;

iii) Develop a theoretical framework;

iv) Develop a conceptual framework.

Search for existing literature:

-To effectively search for literature in your field of enquiry, it is


imperative that you have in mind at least some idea of broad subject area
and of the problem you wish to investigate, in order to set parameters for
your search.

Next compile a bibliography for this broad area. Sources are:

BOOKS comprise a central part of any bibliography. Examine


their content, if contents are not found to be relevant to your
topic, delete it from your reading list.

JOURNALS provide you with the most up-to-date information,


even though there is a gap of two to three years between the
completion of a research project and the publication in a
journal.
Review the literature selected:

After identifying books and articles as useful, the next step is to start reading
them critically to pull together themes and issues that are associated.

1. Read critically with particular reference to the following aspects:


2. Note whether the knowledge relevant to your theoretical framework is
confirmed beyond doubt.
3. Note the theories put forward, the criticisms of these and their basis, the
methodologies adopted and the criticisms of them.
4. Examine to what extent the findings can be generalized to other
situations. Ascertain the areas in which little or nothing is known-the
gaps that exist in the body of knowledge.

Characteristics of the Materials cited

Sarno (2010) enumerated the different characteristics of the literature and


studies to be cite in the present study:

1. The materials must be as recent as possible, maybe 10 years back


2. Materials must be as object and unbiased as possible
3. Materials must be relevant to the study
4. Coherence principle muse be observed in writing literature review.

Citation Style Guide

Reference is an important part of a research paper. It must be consistent and


easy to read across different papers. Different subjects prefer to use different
formats. Referencing is a method used to demonstrate to the readers that
you have conducted a thorough and appropriate literature search and
reading.

1. APA (American Psychological Association). APA is an author/date-


based style. This means emphasis is placed on the author and the date
of a piece of work to uniquely identify it. Most of the education
researches and social sciences used APA referencing.

2. MLA (Modern Language Association). MLA is most often applied by the


arts and humanities, particularly in the USA. It is arguably the most well
used of all of the citation styles.
3. Harvard. Harvard is very similar to APA. Where APA is primarily used in
USA, Harvard referencing is the most well used referencing style in UK
and Australia, and is encouraged for used with the humanities.
4. Vancouver. The Vancouver system is mainly used in medical and
scientific papers.
5. Chicago and Turabian. These are two separate styles but are very
similar just like Harvard and APA. These are widely used for history and
economics.

In-Text Citation

The University of Waikato released handout on how to use APA reference


format.

Direct quotation used quotation marks around the quote and include
page number.
Example:
Samovar and Porter (1997) point out that language involves
attaching meaning to symbols (p.188)

Indirect quotation/paraphrasing no quotation marks


Example:
Attaching meaning to symbols is considered to be the origin of
written language (Samovar & Porter, 1997).

Citations from a secondary source


Example:
As Hall (1977) asserts, culture also defines boundaries of different
group as cited in Samovar & Porter, 1997, p.14

APA Examples of References by Type


In a reference list In-text citation
1. Book with one author (King, 2000) or King (2000)
King, M. (2000). Wrestling with the angel: A Life of compares Frame
Janet Frame. Auckland, New Zealand:Viking
2. Books with two authors
Dancey, C,P., & Reidy, J. (2004). Statistics without (Dancey & Reidy, 2004) or
Maths for psychology: Using SPSS for Windows (3 rd Dancey and Reidy (2004) said
ed.) .Harlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
3. Book with three to five authors (Krause, Bochner, &
Duchesne, 2006)
Krause, K-L., Bochner, S., & Duchesne, D. (2006). If used first time then in
Educational psychology for learning and subsequent citation,
teaching (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Vic., (Krause et al., 2006)
Australia: Thomson.
4. Book or report by a corporate author e.g. (University of Waiko, 1967)
organization, association, government
department

University of Waikato. (1967). First hall of


residence (Information series No. 3). Hamilton,
New Zealand: Author.
5. Conference paper online (Bochner, 1996) or
According to Bochner
Bochner, S. (1996, November). Mentoring in (1996)
Higher education: Issues to be addressed in
developing a mentoring program. Paper
presented at the Australian Association for
Research in Education Conference, Singapore.
Retrieved from
http://www.aare.edu.au/96pap/bochs96018.txt
6. Course Handout/Lecture notes (Salter, 2007)
Salter, G. (2007). Lecture 3: SPLS205-
07A[Powerpoint Slides]. Hamilton, New Zealand:
University of Waikato.
7. Film (Zhang, 2000)
Zhang, Y. (Producer/Director). (2000). Not one
less [Motion Picture]. China: Columbia Pictures
8. Journal article academic/ scholarly ( print (Gibbs, 2005) or Gibbs
version) (2005) contradicts
Gibbs, M. (2005). The right to development and
indigenous peoples: Lessons from New Zealand.
World Development, 33(8), 1365-1378.
9. Journal article academic/ scholarly (Internet (Snell& Hodgetts, n.d.) or
only- no print version) Snell& Hodgetts (n.d.)
Snell, D., & Hodgetts, D. (n.d.). The psychology suggest (para. 3)
of heavy metal communities and white
supremacy. Te Kura Kete Aronui, 1. Retrieved
from http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfassttka
10. Magazine article popular/trade/general (Goodwin, 2002) or
interest Goodwin (2002)
Goodwin, D.K. (2002, February 4) How I caused defends
that story. Time, 159 (5), 69.
11. Newspaper article (Print version) (Hartevelt, 2007)
Hartevelt, J. (2007, December 20). Boy racers.
The Press, p. 3.
12. Personal Communication (letter, telephone, (H. Clarke , personal
conversations, emails, interviews) communication, March
19, 2008)
13. Thesis Institutional or personal webpage (Dewstow, 2006) or
outside the US Dewstow (2006)
Dewstow, R.A. (20016). Using the internet to identified
enhance teaching at the University of Waikato
(Masters thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton,
New Zealand.) Retrieved from
http://researchcommons. Waikato.
Ac.nz/handle/10289/224
http://www.chicagomanualof style.org/tools_citationguide.html

Research Ethics

Science writing can be a complex and arduous process, for it


simultaneously demands clarity and conciseness; two elements that often
clash with each other (Roig, 2002). In the same concept paper, Roig further
mentions the general principle underlying ethical writing the notion that the
written work of an author, be it a manuscript for magazine or scientific
journal, a research paper submitted for a course, or a grant proposal
submitted to funding agency, represents an implicit contract between the
author of that work and its reader

Ethical writing is clear, accurate, fair and honest as mentioned by


Kolin (2002).

Basic Principles of Ethical Practice

The University of Leicester (2010) enumerated basic principles of ethical


research practice. Knowing what constitutes ethical research is important for
all people who conduct research project or use and apply the results from
research findings.

1. Obtained informed consent from participants


o Informed consent must be given to the research participants
before they will be subjected for the research. In the case of
minors, parents or guardians must be fully aware of the said
activity. For native speakers, informed consents must be
translated in their dialect.
2. There should be no pressure on individuals to participate
o Incentives to take part should generally not be provided. If an
incentive is used it needs to be only a token, not enough to
encourage someone who would really prefer not to take part.

3. Respect Individual Autonomy


o Autonomy means the freedom to decide what to do. Even when
someone has signed a Consent Form, they must be made aware
that they are free to withdraw from the study at anytime, without
giving reason. They must also be able to request that the data
they have given be removed from the study.
4. Avoid causing harm
o The duty of the researcher is not to cause harm. The researcher
must make sure that the principle of voluntary participation is
observed in situations where there is interaction with subjects.
5. Maintain Anonymity and confidentiality
o Making data anonymous means removing the contributors
name. However, you will often need to take more than this basic
step to protect a participants identity. Other information can
help to identify people, for example job title, age, gender,
length of service, membership in clubs and strongly expressed
opinions. The more pieces of information that are presented
together, the easier it is to identify someone.
6. Take particular care in research with vulnerable group
o Think about vulnerability in its widest sense. Care is clearly
needed in research with young children, and with people with
disability or minors. However, others may be vulnerable in certain
contexts, for example: Students, Employees, dependents or
people with particular traits that could be subject to prejudice.

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