The article you select should describe a quantitative study and should have all or most of the expected section
In writing your evaluation of the article, you will use Section 5.7 in your text. Do not simply tell what is in the ar
additional materials)
Your paper should be 1925-2100 words in length (not counting the title, abstract, and reference pages) and co
The following questions may help you in evaluating your articles.
Make sure to answer questions, thoroughly.
- Evaluate the Introduction and Literature Review.
- Do the researchers present an adequate rationale for conducting the study? Explain.
- What is the significance of the study? What difference will it make to the field?
- Is the literature review thorough and comprehensive?
- Do the researchers demonstrate any potential biases in the literature review?
- Are all-important concepts clearly defined by the researchers?
- Do the researchers clearly describe previous methods that are relevant to understanding the purpose for con
- Evaluate the Purpose Statement and Hypothesis.
- Does the article clearly state the purpose statement?
- What is the purpose statement as expressed in the article?
- Is the purpose statement clearly based on the argument developed in the literature review?
- Are the variables of interest (i.e. independent and dependent) clearly identified in the purpose statement?
- What type of hypothesis is presented (alternative nondirectional, alternative directional, or null hypothesis)?
- Do the investigators provide a clear rationale for the direction of their hypothesis, based on the literature revi
- Is the hypothesis testable and falsifiable?
- Is the hypothesis stated with brevity and clarity?
- Evaluate the Methods Section.
- What type of sampling method is used? Is that appropriate?
- Are relevant demographic characteristics of the sample clearly identified?
- Do the methods of sample selection used by the researchers provide a good representative sample, based o
- Are there any apparent biases in selection of the sample?
- Is the sample size large enough for the study proposed?
- Is a particular quantitative research design used (e.g. true experimental, quasi-experimental, etc.)? If so, wha
- Is the research design consistent with the purpose and hypothesis presented in the introduction?
- Are the independent variables clearly defined so that they can be replicated using the information provided in
- What are some of the potential threats to internal validity? How are they threats?
- What are some of the potential threats to external validity? How are they threats?
- Is there a clear and adequate description of the instrument (data collection measures) used?
- What types of measures were used in the study (direct observation, behavioral measures, self-report, etc.)?
- What are some of the potential problems or limitations with the types of measures used?
- To what extent are the instruments standardized, and what types of standardized scoring were used?
- Does the instrument appear to be appropriate for the sample?
- Is the reliability of the instrument reported? Is the reliability adequate?
- What types of validity are reported for the instrument used? Is the validity adequate?
- Evaluate the Results Section.
- What descriptive statistics were used? Do the researchers adequately describe the sample?
- What types of inferential statistics were used? Are the inferential statistics used adequately to answer the res
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- Evaluate the Discussion Section.
- Do the researchers clearly restate the purpose and research questions?
- Do the researchers clearly discuss the implications of the findings and how they relate to theories, other findi
- Do the researchers identify potential limitations of the study and the results?
- Do the researchers identify possible directions for future research?
- Remaining Questions.
- What aspects of quantitative methods do you still find challenging?
- Was there any information in the above list that you were not able to find in the article you chose?
In addition to your 19425-2100 word paper, upload a PDF copy of the article to the Dropbox.
APA format
Size 12 font
Times New Roman
Double Spaced
At least words - not counting the title, abstract and reference page
Can use other scholarly sources IF needed. (If not already provided)
REQUIRED REFERENCES:
Malec, T. & Newman, M. (2013). Research methods: Building a knowledge base. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Chapter 5: Experimental Designs – Determining Cause-and-Effect Relationships
Chapter 5: Experimental Designs- Determining Cause and Effect Relationships
Edwards, K. & Dardis, C. (2014).Conducting mixed-methodological dating violence research: Integrating quan
Stoltenberg, C. D., & Pace, T. M. (2007). The scientist-practitioner model: Now more than ever. Journal of Con
5.7 Critiquing a Quantitative Study
The
methods and guidelines for evaluating research studies are fairly detailed for both quantitative and qualitative
considered acceptable but with caution, and which parts have significant limitations. As mentioned in Chapter
necessarily have valid and reliable results even if it claims that it does. Not all studies are worthy of being take
There are several factors to consider when evaluating the sections of a quantitative research study or proposa
instruments, the results, and the discussion.
Evaluating the Literature Review Section
Similar to a qualitative study, the literature review section of a quantitative study is meant to provide an adequa
comprehensive and contain relevant research on the topic being studied. They should also be objective, unbia
articles being reviewed, and include previous research that relates to the current study. Considering these dau
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- What is the significance of the study? What difference will it make to the field?
- Is the literature review thorough and comprehensive?
- Do the researchers demonstrate any potential biases in the literature review?
- Are all important concepts clearly defined by the researchers?
- Do the researchers clearly describe previous methods that are relevant to understanding the purpose for con
Evaluating the Purpose Statement and Hypotheses
As discussed in Chapter 3, the purpose statement does the following: provides the aim or intent of the study; t
of the study; justification for the method of inquiry (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed); and a description of pos
statements can be written in declarative form or in the form of a question or questions. They should include the
statement, it is important to examine whether the purpose and research problem are researchable. Purpose st
problems are researchable when the variables of interest can be operationalized, or defined in a measurable a
It is important to note that not all researchers use purpose statements in quantitative studies, but instead gene
out with one. Rather, alternative types of research hypotheses are given. For example, some research will incl
to predict the direction of that difference. Another hypothesis is the alternative directional hypothesis, which su
Hypotheses guide researchers in selecting appropriate statistical analyses, so there should be consistency be
and statistical tests chosen. The following questions, adapted from Houser (2009), are provided to help you to - Does the article clearly state the purpose statement?
- Is the purpose statement clearly based on the argument developed in the literature review?
- Are the variables of interest (i.e., independent and dependent) clearly identified in the problem statement?
- What type of hypothesis is presented?
- Is there a clear rationale for the direction of the hypothesis, based on the literature review?
- Is the hypothesis testable and falsifiable?
- Is the hypothesis consistent with current theories or research?
Evaluating the Methods Section: Sampling
The Sampling section includes thorough, detailed information about the sample that was chosen and the samp
methods that were used to select it. Descriptions of the sample should include all relevant demographic chara
fast rules regarding sample size, quantitative approaches often require much larger samples. Gay, Mills, and A - For populations that include 100 or fewer individuals, the entire population should be sampled.
- For populations that include 400–600 individuals, 50% of the population should be sampled.
- For populations that include 1,500 individuals, 20% of the population should be sampled.
- For populations that are 5,000 or larger, about 8% of the population should be sampled. (Note, however, that
small to be meaningful).
The sampling techniques employed should be discussed, including detailed information about how the sample
what methods were used (e.g., simple random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling). The following a - Simple Random Sampling: The researcher randomly picks study participants from a list of everyone in the po
- Stratified Random Sampling: The researcher breaks the sampling frame into subgroups and then samples a
- Cluster Sampling: The researcher randomly selects intact groups.
- Systematic Random Sampling: The researcher selects every nth participant from a finite list of those in the p
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Sampling errors and sampling biases should also be considered. Sampling errors can occur when the sample
researcher purposely selects participants in a particular way that introduces bias into the sample. Convenience
The following questions, adapted from Houser (2009), can help you evaluate the sampling methods section: - What type of sampling method is used?
- Are the sampling procedures consistent with the purpose and hypotheses?
- Are relevant demographic characteristics of the sample clearly identified?
- Do the methods of sample selection provide a good representative sample, based on the population?
- Are there any apparent biases in the selection of the sample?
- Is the sample large enough for the study proposed? How has size been justified?
- To whom can study results be generalized?
Evaluating the Methods Section: Procedures
The Procedures section describes in detail everything that was conducted in the study. For quantitative studies
controlled for extraneous or confounding variables. This section should clearly describe the independent varia
randomly assigned to the experimental group and control group. When evaluating the procedures section, one
research design was appropriate for the study and whether it was consistent with the purpose and research qu
The following questions, adapted from Houser (2009), can assist in the evaluation of the Procedures section: - What type of research design was used?
- Was the research design consistent with the purpose and hypotheses?
- Did the researcher provide a detailed description of what was conducted?
- Did the researcher introduce any bias in the procedures used?
- Was the independent variable clearly defined?
- Were there any threats to the internal validity of the study?
- Were there any threats to the external validity of the study?
Evaluating the Methods Section: Instruments
The Instruments section describes in detail the types of instruments and measures that were used to collect th
report inventories, ratings of peoples’ behaviors, questionnaires, physiological approaches, interviews, and sta
When evaluating the Instruments section, consider whether the instruments were appropriate for the study and
assessing the objectivity and quality of a dependent measure is the extent to which the procedures and scorin
important to assess the test’s reliability and validity as well as its use in various populations. It is also importan
standardized assessments or standardized administration and scoring procedures generally obtain more reliab
section: - Is there a clear and adequate description of the instrument (data collection measures) used?
- What types of instruments were used in the study (self-report inventories, ratings, etc.)?
- Are the instruments standardized?
- What are some of the potential problems or limitations with the types of instruments used?
- Does the instrument appear to be appropriate for the sample?
- Is the instrument consistent with the hypotheses?
- Is there a discussion about the reliability and validity of the instruments used?
Evaluating the Results Section
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The Results section describes the findings of the study. Unlike qualitative studies, which focus more on descrip
Two forms of statistics are presented in the Results section: descriptive and inferential. Descriptive statistics su
hypotheses. When evaluating the Results section, consider whether appropriate statistics were used and whe - What descriptive statistics were used?
- Do the descriptive statistics adequately describe the sample?
- What types of inferential statistics were used?
- Are the inferential statistics used adequate to answer the hypotheses?
- Is the research design consistent with the statistical methods used?
Evaluating the Discussion Section
Whether evaluating a quantitative or qualitative study, the Discussion section summarizes the purpose of the r
the findings’ implications for future research and actual practice. Additionally, the Discussion section includes as and potential limitations of the findings. The following questions, adapted from Houser (2009), can shed light - Did the researchers clearly restate the purpose and hypotheses?
- Did the researchers clearly discuss the implications of the findings and how they relate to theories, another find
- Did the researchers provide alternative explanations of the findings?
- Has there been the appropriate generalization of significant findings beyond the sample to the population?
- Did the researchers identify potential limitations of the study and there
Sample Solution