Part 2:

For each article, address the following points:

  • Name of Article:
  • Summary:

o Provide an overview of the Methods section for the article. Include information that would paint a picture of what was done – pretend I asked you to quickly describe what was done in a study and write that information here. Use your Part 1 responses as a guide.

  • Critique:

o What did the authors of the articles do especially well with the Methods section? Provide examples from the article.

o What do you wish they had discussed that they did not (i.e., what changes you would recommend)?

  • Conclusions:

o Overall, what is your assessment of the strength of the article as it pertains to the Methods section? How did you come to this conclusion?

o What do you see as the practical relevance of the information learned?

Comparison of the Articles

  • In comparing the two articles, which do you believe has the stronger Methods section? Why

Assignment #3 – Part 1: Identify the Components

Directions: Delete the section that does not apply to this article & copy the section that does apply. For instance, if both of your articles are quantitative, copy and paste the quantitative items, so you just have quantitative items for both articles. Delete the items for a qualitative article.

Name of Article:

Complete this section if your article is quantitative.

  1. What is the research question/hypothesis? If there are several hypotheses, pick the one that is of most interest to you.
  2. For the hypothesis you selected, identify the following:
  3. Independent Variable(s)– IV:
  4. Dependent Variable(s)– DV:
  5. Mediating or Moderating Variable(s) – if applicable – MV:
  6. Identify the measures, reliability, and level of measurement for each variable in the selected hypothesis – if reliability is not noted, indicate that it is not noted:

For example:

I V: depression – Beck Depression Inventory – internal consistency=.85 – interval/ratio

  1. Does the study use an inductive or deductive methodology?
  2. Does the study use probability or non-probability sampling? Which specific type of sampling was used?
  3. What type of design was used – pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, experimental?
  4. What information is presented on the ethical standards?
  5. In looking at the sample, is diversity apparent? Remember, this can include age, race, gender or anything you see as related to diversity.

Complete this section if your article is qualitative.

  1. What were the research question(s) for the study? If no research question is noted, what are they attempting to learn?
  2. What were the main concepts under study – similar to variables, not their results?
  3. How many questions were asked? Were the questions from a standardized measure (i.e., did they say they got the questions from an existing source) or were they created for the study or did they use an unstructured approach?
  4. Does the study use an inductive or deductive methodology?
  5. Does the study use probability or non-probability sampling? Which specific type of sampling was used?
  6. What type of design was used – pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, experimental?
  7. What information is presented on the ethical standards?
  8. In looking at the sample, is diversity apparent? Remember, this can include age, race, gender or anything you see as related to diversity.