Lesson 29: Organizing Related Literature

One of the greatest problems among researchers in writing the related literature is how to organize the review. There are times that we tend to include all that we have read leaving our Chapter 2 unorganized and crowded. Then, our Chapter 2 will lose its coherence and unity. However, if you are a keen observer, you will notice how some researches follow a certain format to make their work coherent. Here are the ways on how to organize your review of literature and studies:

1. Through Chronological Order (date/year)

In organizing your related literature using chronological method, you could write your research paper review according to when they were published. If this approach be used, it has to be ensured that clear development of the way, location or place of where such research are to be noted following the flow of years or specific dates.

This is considered the easiest way in organizing coherent literature reviews and studies. It features how the topic is changed according to year or time and how such topic is thought of today (Cronin, Ryan& Coughlan, 2008).

According to Calderon & Gonzales (2015) related materials may also be cited chronologically, that is, according to the year they were written. Materials which were written earlier should be cited first before those which were written later. This can be done especially when citation is by author or writer.

Example

The earliest recognized case of LD occurred in 1802 when Franz Joseph Gall a German French anatomist and physiologist recognized an association between brain injury in soldiers and subsequent expressive language disorders. In 1822, Gall published a book entitled Sur les Fonctions, in which he outlined his belief that the brain was divided into twenty- seven separate "organs," each corresponds to a discrete human faculty. He believed one of those separate organs controlled the memory of things; the memory of facts; educability; perfectibility.

In the year 1867, a German teacher for the deaf named Heinrich Stotzner had founded the school for slow learners. This was done because he discovered that there were children though without problem on mental retardation exhibit difficulty to read and write because of poor motor coordination.

In 1877, Adolph Kassmaul-a German physician-coined the phrase word blindness for loss of ability to read (Hagw& Silver, 1990). The phrase, which is still used today to describe a form of dyslexia, refers to a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to read or understand the written word, either totally or partially. Partial word blindness permits the individual to recognize letters, but read only certain types of words (Miller, 2002).

2. Through broad-to-specific topic

According to Cronin, Ryan & Coughlan (2008), you can also organize your related  review of literature and studies by starting it from a general issue of topic, then lower it down  to specific issues in the literature until it reaches and links to your research title, question,  research keywords, thesis statement and hypothesis.

An example of this is when you start the problem of teenage pregnancy  internationally or globally. Start by establishing the trend of such problem globally, then at  national level, to your province, city or locality and to your own barangay (Aparejo, 2010).

3. Through major models or major theories

Another approach in writing coherent and organized review of related literature and  studies is by arranging it according to its significant models or major theories. When various  models or theories emerge in your studies, it is better to arrange them according to their  importance in your research. Group the articles you read and researched by models and  theories to get coherent view of your review of related literature and studies (Cronin, Ryan &  Coughlan, 2008).

4. Through prominent authors

If a certain author, writer or researcher had developed a certain innovation, model, theory or education breakthrough and then other authors or researchers continue studying  and developing it, it is good to arrange such authors by their popularity or fame. It is also  better if authors be organized according to whose famous authors they agreed upon. With this organization, coherence of author’s view on specific issues from one author to another  is vividly followed (Cronin, Ryan& Coughlan, 2008).

5. Through contrasting schools of thought

By this approach of organizing your related literature and study, you can group together major arguments or contrasting differences that came up in your research with researchers stressing their agreement and disagreement in their approaches and ideas.

6. Through thematic concept or by topic

The thematic concept of topic reviews refers to the related reviews that are organized on specific topic or a concept, an issue or trend of the time. It is different form chronological and by publication because it focuses on concept or topic rather than time and year of publication.

For instance, a review of the impact of internet to Philippine political system. Although in this type of organization the chronological and thematic organization can still be present in its development, the focus in the thematic approach is not the year nor the theme but the role of the internet in political system of government. Note however that more authentic thematic reviews tend to break away from chronological order. A review organized in this manner would shift between time periods within each section according to the point made.

If different authors or writers have the same opinion about the same topic, it is discussed and cited under the names of the authors or writers. This is a summary of their opinions or findings. This is done to avoid separate and long discussions of the same topic.

Example

There have been several researchers of web-based applications in different disciplines such as in engineering (Lam, n.d.), clinical and medical services (Chakravorty,2006, Holzinger, 2007, Nijland, et. al., 2011, Sahoo, 2012, Maymone, et. al. ,2018, business and organizations (Zia, 2015), e-learning and in Science (Malavolta, 2016, Xu & Ming, 2012, Yaldir, 2016, Eagleso, et. al. 2017, Abriata, 2018).

Source: Aparejo, Calipusan & Brandino (2018) titled “Improving Data Management System of Senior High School Through E – form Web Application”

In the example, it shows that there are several authors who confirmed that web-applications are used in clinical and medical services and in business and organizations. Note that clinical and medical services is considered one theme and business and organization is another theme.

7. Through Methodological approach

In the methodological approach, the focus is on the method the researcher used. For example, the literature review focuses on the method used by the graduating Senior High School students to raise funds for their entrepreneurship proposal or method used to increase agricultural yields among agriculture students. It can also be the method used by the STEM students in their researches on the preservation of our nature using the innovation brought by technology.

In an example cited by Practical Research 1 book published by Rex Bookstore, methodological organization is evident in this scenario. It states for instance the Internet in American presidential politics projects. One methodological approach would be to look at cultural difference between the portrayal of American presidents on American, British, andFrench websites or their view might focus on the fundraising impact of the internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents

in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed.

Any method used in research by researchers or by respondents that would become a phenomenon of innovation, breakthrough, success or failure will become the subject of discussion, focus and interest on researchers’ world.

To help you understand what is method, let us try to answer this first.

1. Enumerate the methods used in communication or in sending ideas. Possible answers are: language, letters, using technology, verbal and written or oral communication.

2. Enumerate the method used in order to become professional or educated Possible answers are: schooling, self-study, online study, etc.

Example

It is concluded that using differentiated instructions is considered an effective way of addressing the diverse classrooms. This confirmed the study of Robinson, Maldonado& Whaley (2014) stating that if teachers are provided with the knowledge and tools to differentiate in their classrooms it may increase test scores and help low achieving students find success and Mc Cullough (2012) while expanding the learning growth of gifted and talented students.

Source: Aparejo (2015) titled “Using Differentiated Instruction Designs Through Multiple Intelligence Theory to Improve the Academic Performance of Students at Risk with LD

     This example uses methodological approach considering that the method used in increasing academic performance is the differentiated instructions inspired by the Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

     If you can already decide what method or organization you will be using in your review of related literature, it will become easy for you to fill up the blank space of your Chapter 2since you have now the idea of what to do and where to go. Using chronological organization and thematic deal on concepts or others, this does not mean you are to limit your organization on what is being discussed here. You can still add whatever type of organization you think you can use provided it is necessary.