Critical Review of Published Article for Statistics
1 Scope of the study – Is it a case study or an inferential study linking sample results to the population?
2 Sample — How well is this discussed and is it clear what the population is. Was the sample size justified? Is it clear the sample is a random sample?
3 Questionnaire/Survey — Should be discussed so that one can determine sufficiency, possible sources of error, steps taken to avoid errors, and pre-testing. Is it clear what critical variables are collected from the instrument?
4 Data – If data are used other than survey data, is the discussion adequate to understand possible limitations of the data. Are sources identified?
5 Statistical Tests – If specific tests are mentioned, are they discussed sufficiently and are they appropriate? Is sufficient background included (p values, type I errors, t- statistics, regression statistics, results, tables, etc.)
6 Results — Are the results logical and follow from the descriptive or analytical statistical methods utilized. Or, are they based on intuition and assumptions and not on quantitative results? Is there an attempt to rationalize the results, helping to explain why the quantitative results yield what they did?
7 Limitations – No study is ever perfect and often problems should be noted. Are these discussed and suggestions made to improve next time?
