Writing Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature and Studies
As soon as the research problem has been chosen and approved by your teacher, you can now start looking
for references to determine what materials are available on your topic. This will comprise your working
bibliography, a list of possible sources of data. Aside from the library, computer websites are also a rich source
of this list of references. Prepare the list and decide which ones you will include in your review. Make sure you
have enough potential sources. A good number to start with would be 10 to 15 references. While preparing your
list, you can start getting copies of these materials by printout or copy machines, or download them in your
USB, so that when you’re ready to read them, they are already available.
1.1 The Introductory Paragraph
1.2 Foreign Literature
1.3 Local Literature
1.4 Foreign Studies
1.5 Local Studies
Selecting and Reviewing Related Literature and Studies
From your working bibliography and stored copies of materials, choose which ones are closely
related to your study and read them for your review of related literature and studies.
A review of related literature and studies is helpful in knowing the ideas of others interested in the
research question, similar or related, to the study you are undertaking in order to find out if it is an original work
or merely an extension of work done a long time ago. This will enable you to narrow down your study to a
specific well-defined manageable problem.
Related literature consists of discussions of facts and principles to which your study is related. These
materials are usually found in books, encyclopedias, journals, magazines, and newspapers from printed or
online sources. If printed in the Philippines, they are local; if printed outside of the country, they are foreign
regardless of the citizenship of the author.
Related studies are inquiries, investigations, researches already conducted to which your proposed
study is related or has some bearing. They are usually unpublished materials such as manuscripts, theses, and
dissertations. They are local if the inquiry was done in the Philippines; foreign, if done outside of the country.
Three things must be done in the review.
1. It should make a critical evaluation of the studies and examine the appropriateness of their
research designs to the present study.
2. It should show how the methodology of the previous study is replicated, modified, or
improved in the present study.
3. It should show how the present study will contribute to existing literature and studies.
The review of related literature and studies was mentioned earlier in this lesson—its importance in any
research undertaken, the distinction between literature and studies, and between foreign and local ones.
In writing Chapter 2, you need to classify your presentation first into literature and studies and sub-
classify each into foreign and local. Foreign literature is first discussed, followed by local literature, and then
foreign studies followed by local studies.