Assignment 1: Evaluating a Peer Reviewed Journal Article

Assignment 1: Evaluation of a peer-reviewed article:

Purpose: The purpose of exercise is to conduct a detailed, critical evaluation of the research design, methods and analysis of a study written up and published in a peer-reviewed journal.   Article selection tips: select an article from a peer-reviewed Sociology Journal.  Please do not use law journals.

Step 1: Obtain a peer reviewed journal article. 

Please select an article that is an actual research study.  Keep things simple.  I recommend the following topics: binge drinking among college students, marijuana use among college students, rape on campus, homeschooling, drug courts, domestic violence, stalking, bullying, or immigration.

Please select an article that involves a research study.  The article should have a methods section.  You should not select an article from a law journal.  Magazine, websites, and newspaper articles are not peer review journal articles.  At this time it is best not to select an article that involves field research (qualitative research).

The article you use should be published in a sociological or criminological journal.  It should not, for example, come from a nursing journal, a law journal, or a business journal.

Step 2: Summarize the article by addressing the following discussion questions: (4-5 pages without title and reference page)

1. What was the purpose of the research?

2. What are the dependent and independent variables of the study?

3. How was the dependent variable measured?

4. Describe the sampling technique used in the research.

5. What were the findings of the research study?

6. What were the strengths and weaknesses of this study?  How could the study be improved?  What else needs to be examined or looked at?

7. If you answer these six discussion questions, you do not have to answer the questions in the original assignment.