ASSIGNMENT
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Read the introduction and literature review – Does the article make a case for the need for the study? (ie.. Gap in literature)
Does the article show you how the study fits into the overall work that has already been done?
What are the research questions that the article is studying?
Given the literature review, do the research questions seem supported or logical? Why or why not?
Do you have any questions about the literature review section?
Note, if you are reading an article that is on a topic that interests you, reading someone else’s literature review can help you find other articles. Search through the literature review and copy and paste a citation for an article that seems interesting to you to read later.
How many participants did this study have?
How did they find the participants? Is it a convenience sample, an experimental study, or quasi-experimental? Explain your answer.
What is the population that this article is about? (ie K12 students, teachers, etc) The larger group it is talking about.
Was the sample of the participants representative of the population that they wanted to study? Yes or No – if no what might not be representative.
Did they design their own instrument or use an existing one?
What is the benefit of their approach to instrumentation?
Method section is designed so that if someone else wanted to do the study again they could. Does the method section provide enough to detail to do this? If not, what is missing?
Validity – does this study have face validity – ie.. is what they are doing making sense with what they want to study? At its face, does it make sense? Why or why not?
Reliability – does the study have procedures that if it was done by someone else it would produce the same results?
Results– Are the results presented in a way that be understood? (ie.. were tables explained, were charts, graphs well labeled?)
Did the results avoid interpretation – ie.. reporting what is but not why? (The why belongs in discussion)
Did the results match the research questions? Why or why not?
Do the authors report a measure of validity – either statistically or otherwise? If so, what is it?
Did the authors report basic statistics – count, average (Mean, Median, Mode), standard deviation, variance. And if so, how were they used?
Did the authors do any more advanced statistical tests (ANOVA, TTest, HLM, Structural equation modeling). And if so.- how did they use it? (You may not be good at this yet, but try your best).
Discussion: Do the authors explain what the results mean in a way that can understood by the reader? Give an example.
Does the author use literature from the literature review to support their results in the discussion? Copy and paste an example where they do this.
Did the authors relate the results to practice?
Did the authors clearly answer their research questions in the discussion? If not, give an example of one that was not answered.
Do the authors use any terms in either results or discussion about approaching significance or while not significant – it tells us…. Why is this important to watch for?
Do the authors discuss any limitations to the study? Do you find them to be valid – why or why not?
Do the authors suggest future studies based on this work? If so, how do they relate to their original research questions?
Summarize the article in 200 words or less – include their research question and major findings.
Personally rate this article (totally your opinion) . is this article useful – why or why not?
Any other notes or questions that you might have about the article?
