critique 1 – Lion Essays

Elements of the critique 
 Summary of the article (Discuss what the article is about)

Research Topic

What question is the researcher trying to answer?

Research Methodology

How did the researcher study the topic?  Survey?  Experiment?  Statistical Analysis?  Briefly answer who, what, where, and when, and how.

Major Conclusions

What does the author conclude? What recommendations does he make?

This section should not be very long, one page at most.  Remember that the primary purpose of the critique is not to summarize the paper, but rather, to give an assessment of how well the research was conducted.
In-depth critique of the article (Discuss how well the research is conducted)   
Write a brief paragraph for each of the following listed elements:

Purpose

Is the research problem clearly stated?  Is it easy to determine what the researcher intends to research? 

Literature Review

Is the review logically organized?  Does it offer a balanced critical analysis of the literature?  Is the majority of the literature of recent origin?  Is it empirical in nature?

Objectives/hypotheses

Has a research question or hypothesis been identified?  Is it clearly stated?  Is it consistent with discussion in the literature review?

Ethical Standards Applied

Were the participants fully informed about the nature of the research?  Was confidentiality guaranteed?  Were participants protected from harm? 

Operational Definitions

Are all terms, theories, and concepts used in the study clearly defined?

Methodology

Is the research design clearly identified? Has the data gathering instrument been described? Is the instrument appropriate? How was it developed? Were reliability and validity testing undertaken and the results discussed? Was a pilot study undertaken?

Data Analysis/Results

What type of data and statistical analysis was undertaken? Was it appropriate? How many of the sample participated? Significance of the findings?

Discussion

Are the findings linked back to the literature review? If a hypothesis was identified was it supported?  Were the strengths and limitations of the study including generalizability discussed?  Was a recommendation for further research made?

References

Were all the books, journals and other media alluded to in the study accurately referenced?

Conclusion

Considering all of the evaluation categories, is the article well or poorly researched?