Crit4iquing Research Articles

You are interested in buying a new car, but you cannot decide between two models. It is time to vote, and you must decide which candidate to vote for. You are reading a research article, but you question the validity of the study. In each of these situations, you must rely on your ability to think critically.

Critical-thinking skills are essential in both everyday life and academia. Your ability to comprehend, distill, and analyze the work and ideas of others will allow you to expand your own ways of learning. Understanding what to critique, and how to do it, is an important skill as it allows for informed debate. The outcomes of these types of debates are often what lead to best practices in the field.

To prepare for assignment:

Identify two research articles related to your chosen profession. For example, if you identified the role of a developmental psychologist, one of your articles might be a study that researched how babies respond to novelty in their environment.

Assignment

Submit a 4- to 5-page paper (excluding title and reference pg) that evaluates two research articles of your choosing. Your evaluation should include a description of the purpose and methodology of each study and the authors' interpretation of the findings. Be sure to address the following issues as they apply to your particular chosen studies:

• Explain the purpose of the study, including the theoretical frame of reference (if any).
 
• Identify variables and hypotheses.

• Explain the method of the study.

• Describe the research design used.

• Describe the group or area studies.

• Explain which type of sampling was used. Note the sample size.

• Provide information on the data collection procedure(s) and operationalization of variables. Note the type of data-gathering instrument.

• Describe the techniques used for analysis and interpretation of data.

• Provide a brief summary of the findings of the study and the authors' interpretation of the findings.

For the critical analysis portion of this paper:

• Identify and discuss the strengths and limitations of the research design, analysis used, and the author or authors' conclusions.

• Describe any variables that were not included in the study that you think could have been included.

• Offer any alternative or additional explanations of the findings that were not considered by the researchers.