2- Article Analysis

Module 2: Evaluative Article Selection & Assessment of Problem Formulation and Intervention (graded)

Purpose
In considering research, social workers must be careful to understand how and for what purposes they can use the findings to inform practice. This requires the need to do more than reading the research question and then skipping directly to the study findings and conclusions or implications. Throughout this term you will conduct a comparative analysis of evaluative studies of interventions to address a social problem of your choosing. You will conduct a series of assignments in preparation for the comparative analysis.

The comparative analysis is a series of four assignments that you will be completing throughout the semester. For the first three assignments you will be critically appraising each of the components of evaluative research articles. Having conducted these analyses, in the fourth assignment you will make judgments on adoption of these interventions for practice. Throughout the assignments it is important to keep in mind that you are not only considering an assessment of the evaluation conducted but considering the presentation of the research report to you, as a consumer of research. To assist you in conducting this assessment, evaluation rubrics are provided for your consideration of report components for the first three assignments.

Course Objectives
CO 2: Choose an appropriate statistical test for specific forms of data and hypotheses.
CO 3: Implement logic and mathematical basis for different inferential statistics.
CO 4: Use computers and the software package SPSS as a tool for data management and hypothesis testing.

Requirements and Guidelines
Review the Course Outcomes for this assignment, which are listed above.
Select a problem addressed by social workers. Then identify three articles that focus on an evaluation of an intervention that is addressing the social problem. The articles should provide enough information on the intervention, the treatment population (sample) and the details of the evaluation plan sufficiently to make comparisons. It is recommended that you review all the assignments’ details and the criterion rubrics for the first three assignments. The interventions should be from different theoretical perspectives or models of intervention. To ensure that you are using the correct evaluative articles, please use the checklist (Links to an external site.).
Once you have selected and thoroughly reviewed the three articles (that you will use for all four assignments) write a comparative analysis paper that considers the following key areas listed below.
You can use the questions under each criteria to complete the assignment.