The Status of Philippine Lake Studies: Scholarly Deficit in Social Science and Small-Lake Research

• Main Author: Brillo, Bing Baltazar C.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Philippine Lakes; Small-Lake Studies; Big-Lake Research; Lake Studies; Natural Science; Social Science and Lake
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol15/iss1/6; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1045/viewcontent/5_brillo_20061615.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study surveys the literature on Philippine lake studies using a representative sample from the library databases of the three leading universities in the country. The paper proceeds as follows: firstly, it categorizes the existing lake studies by scholarly orientation (natural science perspective or social science perspective) and by physical size of the particular lake under study (big lake or small lake); secondly, it charts and assesses the overall trajectory of lake studies in the country. The paper concludes that Philippine lake studies are dominated by the natural science-based studies and heavily concentrated on big-lake research. This finding illustrates the gaps in the literature, specifically: one, the need to account for all the existing lakes in the country; two, the need for more social science-based studies on lakes; and three, the need for more outputs on small-lake research. The paper closes with the call to balance scholarly deficit as the way towards meaningful progress in lake studies in the country.