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Practical Research 1
Quarter 3 – Module 15:
Selecting Relevant Literature
Practical Research 1 – Grade 11
Quarter 3 – Module 15: Selecting Relevant Literature
First Edition, 2020

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Practical Research 1
Quarter 3 – Module 15:
Selecting Relevant Literature
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:
As a facilitator, you are expected to orient the learners on how to
use this module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress
while allowing them to manage their own learning at home.
Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as
they do the tasks included in the module.

For the learner:

As a learner, you must learn to become responsible of your own
learning. Take time to read, understand, and perform the different
activities in the module.
As you go through the different activities of this module be
reminded of the following:
1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on
any part of the module. Use a separate sheet of paper in
answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer Let’s Try This before moving on to the
other activities.
3. Read the instructions carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking
your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are
done.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this
module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always
bear in mind that you are not alone. We hope that through this
material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain deep
understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!
Information about this ADM learner’s material
I. Objective: The learner demonstrates
Ia. Content Standard understanding of the criteria in
selecting, citing, and synthesizing
related literature.

The learner is able to select, cite, and

synthesize properly related literature,
Ib. Performance Standard use sources according to ethical
standards, and present written review
of related literature.

Ic. Learning Competency The learner selects relevant literature.

(CS_RS11-IIIf-j-1)

II. Content / Topic Selecting Relevant Literature

Good day!

We begin by letting you know that this module

for Practical Research is meant to help you select
relevant literature. Reviewing literature is a significant
part of your research. Given the wide range of literature
to choose from, you need to be equipped on how to
select materials relevant only to your study.
You will find this module useful in providing
you with information that will lead you to understand
and become acquainted with retrieving relevant
literature. Reviewing literature can be challenging, but
we will be with you every step of the way. So, I
encourage you to be actively engaged as we go
through this module.
Should you have questions, feel free to ask your
parents or contact a teacher for clarification.

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 At the end of this module, you are expected to:
1. follow steps in selecting relevant literature;
and,
2. select relevant literature.

Introduction
Consider how your curiosity or interest about an idea, a person, a
process, a place, a hobby, or a thing led you to discover information about
these topics. How did you gather the information? What resources did you
use to come up with these information? Did the fact or data that you gather
added more information to what you already know about these topics? This
is the same as in reviewing literature for your particular study. However,
compared to random fact-finding of your topics of interest, finding and
selecting information relevant to your study may take more time and effort.
As they say, “You cannot cram your literature review.”
Literature review is considered a key element in conducting research
as it allows you to examine or study concepts or ideas related to your
research in a form of published books, journals, records, and empirical
studies, to name a few (Baraceros, 2016). Selecting relevant information to
help enrich your research idea will be the main goal of this module.
Remember that as a researcher, selecting relevant literature is not a mere
record of who wrote what, but it is to establish critical understanding of the
study you are undertaking through various resources. This will not only
show your vast knowledge about your study, but will also hold truthfulness
and credibility of the claims and ideas you would like to discuss therein.

It seems like we have established a decent bird’s eye

view about this module. Are you ready to hit on the
next activity? Game on!

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(Activity 1) BUBBLE MAP
Instruction: Write three things that you know about the given topic, and
three things on how you can look for more information about
this topic. Write your answer in the bubble map below.

Rubric for Scoring

Criteria 3 points 2 points 1 point
Ideas he/she Provided three Provided two ideas. Provided only one
knows about the ideas. idea.
topic
Ways to gather Provided three Provided two ways. Provided only one
information ways. way.

Being able to set what you know, what you would

like to know, and where you can find them is
already a good jumpstart in literature review. Now,
let us take a look at your responses in the previous
activity.

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(Activity 2)
Guide Questions:

1. Do the ideas that you already know help you describe the topic?
Why?
______________________________________________________________________

2. Do you think that your ways to get information will help you add
more relevant knowledge to the given topic? Why?
______________________________________________________________________

3. Where can you possibly get more information about this topic?
______________________________________________________________________

Lesson: Selecting Relevant Literature

Literature Review
As all components of research are important, reviewing related
literature has a major role in building a good foundation of your study.
Literature review gives a, “systematic identification, location, and,
analysis of materials related to the research problem,” (Bloomberg, et.al,
2018). This means gathering and analyzing in an orderly manner, all
information and data from different sources which are deemed authoritative,
credible and relevant to the study. According to Prieto et. al. (2017),
literature review can cover a range of sources like journal articles,
monographs, computerized databases, conference proceedings, theses and
dissertations, empirical studies, government reports and reports from other
bodies, historical records, and, statistical handbooks.
Since there are varying resources to choose from, a researcher must
take into consideration the scope and purpose of the review, the balanced
coverage of what is available, the most recent and relevant studies,

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materials to show development and limitation of the study, and, primary
and appropriate secondary sources (Prieto, et.al, 2017).

Purposes of Literature Review

McMillan and Schumacher (1984; as cited in Buensuceso et. al.,
2016) identified five purposes of the literature review. A literature review
allows you to:
1. Define and limit a problem. Most areas in research are broad, but
doing a literature review helps you identify the parameters/limit of
your study.
2. Place your study in perspective. A literature review allows the
researcher to learn from others and stimulate new ideas to the current
body of knowledge of a certain field of study.
3. Avoid unintentional replication of previous studies. While it is
possible to replicate a previous study, it should be done for a specific
purpose and different scope and delimitation. Your review of literature
will help you to make informed choices, avoiding intentional
duplication of scholarly studies.
4. Selects methods and measures. The different materials you will
gather in your review of literature will be useful in designing your own
research methodology.
5. Tell findings to prior knowledge and suggest areas for further
research. This indicates direction for future research. Your research
will be more significant if your literature review draws on arguments
and counter arguments within the discussion.
Types of Sources
The type of sources from which you should be familiar with is an
important element in selecting relevant literature. These sources can be
classified into:
Primary Sources – These are publications which are first-hand or by
which findings, conclusions and author’s original perspective are
communicated directly by the authors to their readers. Most of these
materials include scholarly journal, newspapers, court records, translations
or excerpt of an original document, manuscripts, autobiography,
correspondence, interviews, data from a research study, and speeches. A
primary source gives you direct access to the subject of the research.
Secondary Sources – These are publications which are based on
works written by others. They are used by authors to present evidence, help
represent an opinion by citing multiple sources. Examples of these materials

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are mostly textbooks, encyclopedia, research reviews, and documentary
movies. A secondary source generally describes, interprets, or synthesizes
primary sources.
It is important to be familiar with as much sources from which you
can deduce because a literature review does not formally end once you have
written your introductory and literature review chapters. In fact, it traces
the development of your study, and most importantly, identifies the gaps
that exist in how a problem has been researched to date.

Steps in Selecting Relevant Literature

As you will try to look for as much material for your research, it is
important to prepare on how you may select relevant literature. Remember
to use both primary and secondary sources. According to Bloomberg, et. al.
(2018), identifying and retrieving relevant literature may be done through
the following steps:

1. Familiarize yourself with online databases. Aside from the library,

you can now easily access your materials from the Internet. Be
familiar with the sample online database below to help you identify
those that are relevant for your study.

Figure 1. Online Databases

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 Sample Online Database:
Education Resource Information
Center (ERIC)

Figure 2. Sample Online Database: Education Resource Information Center

(ERIC)
*NOTE:
Since most of these database provide access to free journals, be aware
of predatory journals, too. There are a lot of academic journals which
are not in quality. They only exist primarily to source out fees from
authors. They have questionable or non-existent peer review and fail
to provide scientific accuracy (Sorokowski, et.al. 2017). To check
whether the journals you are using for literature review are predatory
or not, visit the website https://beallslist.net/.

2. Specify a limited range of publication dates. Review as much up-

to-date works as possible. Relevant materials of your study are best
when they are written from present to five (5) to ten (10) years ago.
When you use an online database, try to customize the range of years
it was written to get a more relevant and up-to-date works.

Customized publication dates.

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3. Develop a parameter that will yield focused results by using
keywords and combination of keywords (descriptors) to identify
potential relevant sources. In this way, your research is refined and
all possible yields are covered. When you do this, always go back to
your research questions. Make sure that your descriptors are only
within the bounds of your research questions.

Example:
Qualitative Research Title: Students’ Perspective on Truancy and
Dropping Out
Research Keywords/descriptors: Truancy, dropout, perspective on
truancy, perspective on dropout, truancy and dropout

Sample Descriptors: truancy and

dropout

Potential source

Potential source

Potential source

Figure 4. Sample of Descriptors using Online Database

4. Skim and screen the sources. Assess each piece of literature to

ascertain whether the content is relevant to your study. To do
this, always go back to your research questions and check whether
the ideas in these sources relate to your research questions, your
keywords, and your research problem as a whole.

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 Research title/keywords

Skim through a potential relevant

source.

Potential sources

Figure 5. Sample Skimming and Scanning a Relevant Source

5. Print materials that seem relevant to your study. In cases where

you may not be able to print or acquire a copy, write an outline of
relevant ideas from the materials you have skimmed and screened.

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Example:
Qualitative Research Title: Students’ Perspective on Truancy and
Dropping Out
Research Keywords: Truancy, dropout, perspective on truancy,
perspective on dropout, truancy and dropout

Sample Specific Keyword/s: Dropout/Perspective on dropout

Outline on Relevant Ideas about Dropout from Three (3) Different

Sources:

1. Students’ at risk for dropping out of school report many

family organizational problems and that they obtain little
emotional support from their parents. (Fortin et.al, 2006)
2. A process by which students end up not meeting the
requirements of a secondary school degree by not coming to
school, or coming to school but not always turning up in
classrooms, or not engaging in on-going teaching and learning.
(Lund, et.al, 2017)
3. Students less likely to drop out of high school where
relationships between teachers and students are positive. (Lee,
et.al., 2003)

6. Keep control. From the beginning, develop a system of recording and

managing material. You may need to revisit all potential materials you
have already skimmed for further review. To manually organize,
monitor, and document your search activities, you can use the sample
matrix below.

Date Title of Journal/

Author/s Source
Published Book

Rodriguez Preventing Truancy Education and Urban

, Louie F. and Dropout Society; v41 n2 p216-247;
2009 among Urban ISSN-0013-1245;
Middle School
Youth: https://eric.ed.gov/?q=trua

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Conchas, Understanding ncy+and+dropout&pr=on&id
Gilberto Community-Based =EJ822811
Q. Action from the
Student’s
Perspective

De Witte, Does anybody

Kristoff notice? On the
https://www.tandfonline.co
impact of improved
2012 m/doi/abs/10.1080/09645
truancy reporting
292.2012.672555
Csillag, on school dropout
Marton

*NOTE: You may also use a software that helps you record and manage
materials for your literature review. One of these is Mendeley
Reference Manager. You may download the application for
Windows using the link https://www.mendeley.com/download-
desktop-new/. Once downloaded, you may register and upload
reading material you would like to be managed and recorded
properly.

Figure 6. Mendeley Reference Manager

7. At the end of the study, revisit online databases to check for any
new literature that may have emerged.

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 From here, you now have a better
understanding of literature review and how you may
select relevant literature for your review. Ready for a
mind exercise? Let’s do this!

(Activity 3) RELEVANT SELECTION

Instruction: Read each statement below. Select all statements which relate
to the given title by ticking (/) the box before the number. If the
items are not relevant to the study, mark the box (X).

Research Title: Solid Waste Management: A Phenomenon

Keywords: Solid waste disposal; solid waste management;
mismanaged wastes

1. Many developed and developing countries have committed to

establishing safe and efficient waste management techniques in their
countries, expecting to minimize the negative impacts of waste on the
environment (Choi, 2016).
2. The primary goal of solid waste management is to reduce and
eliminate the adverse effects of waste materials to human health and
environment in order to support economic development and for better
quality of life (LeBlanc, 2017).
3. The conclusions of this research program emphasized the
importance of the evaporation phenomenon as a simple solution to deal
with complex environmental problems (Duarte, et.al., 1996).
4. Optimized siting decisions have gained considerable importance in
order to ensure minimum damage to the various environmental sub-
components as well as reduce the stigma associated with the residents
living in its vicinity, thereby enhancing the overall sustainability
associated with the life cycle of a landfill (Sumathi, et.al., 2008)
5. Specifically, this initiative provides the essential mechanism to attain

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its objective to ensure health and environment protection of the public.
People’s solid wastes must be segregated, otherwise it will be a
continuous threat to health and environment (Calago, 2018).

Did you enjoy selecting relevant literature in this

exercise? I hope you do. Just in case you still have
trouble, you can always go back to the discussion. Carry
on!

1. A literature review provides a concise summary of information and

data findings that describe current knowledge and facts.
2. Remember to avoid the temptation to include everything in your
literature review. When investigating a certain research problem,
review only those that are directly related to your specific problem.
3. The steps in selecting relevant literature includes familiarizing online
database, limiting range of publication dates, developing a
parameter, skimming and screening sources, printing materials,
organizing materials, and revisiting online database.

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(Activity 4) MY STUDY’S RELATED LITERATURE
Instruction: Recall your research topic. Select and list down three (3)
keywords, each with three (3) ideas relevant for your study.
Make sure that you have various sources to choose from.
Write your answer in the matrix provided below. You will be
graded with a rubric.

Research Problem:
Keywords/Descriptors Related Literature

1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
*Use separate sheet if necessary.

Rubric for Scoring

Content Excellent (5 points) Good (3 points) Poor (1 point) Score

The collection of The collection of The collection of
literature is relevant literature is somewhat literature is not
Literature
to the research relevant to the relevant to the
problem. research problem. research problem.
All statements/ideas Some Only a few statements
presented are statements/ideas or almost no
Keywords coherent to the presented are stamen/idea is
keywords/descriptors. coherent to the coherent to the
keywords/descriptors. keywords/descriptors.
The ideas for each The ideas for each The ideas for each
keyword are coming keyword are coming keyword are coming
Sources
from three different from two different from one source only.
sources. sources.
The ideas written are The ideas written The ideas written
free of error in have some error in have a lot of error in
spelling, punctuation, spelling, punctuation, spelling, punctuation,
Mechanics
structure, and, word structure, and, word structure, and, word
use. use. use.

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 15
Let’s Test Ourselves
Let’s Do This
(Answers vary.)
1. /
2. /
3. X
4. X
5. /
Analysis Let’s Try This
(Answers vary.) (Answers vary.)
Answer Key
References

Baraceros, E. (2016). Practical research 2 for senior high school. Rex Printing
Company Incorporated: Quezon City, Philippines. 152 pages.

Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2018). Completing your qualitative

dissertation: A roadmap from beginning to end. Sage Publications. 456
pages.

Buensuceso, D.B., Dacanay, D.E., Manalo, G.A., &, San Gabriel, N.M.
(2016). Practical Research 1 teacher’s guide. Lexicon Press Incorporated:
Pasig City, Philippines. 170 pages

Fink, A. 2014. Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to

paper. 4th Ed. Sage Publications.

Mc Millan, J. & Schumacher, S. (1984). Research in education: A conceptual

introduction (1st ed.). Little Brown Publications

Prieto, N., Naval, V., & Carey, T. (2017). Practical Research 1 for Senior High
School. Lorimar Publishing Incorporated: Quezon City, Philippines. 194
pages.

Sorokowski, P., Kulczycki, E., Sorokowska, A., & Pisanski, K. (2017).

Predatory journals recruit fake editor. V. 543. International Weekly
Journal of Science. https://www.nature.com/news/predatory-journals-
recruit-fake-editor-1.21662

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For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Davao City Division

E. Quirino Avenue, Davao City

Telephone: (082) 227 4762

Email Address: [email protected]

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