Critical Analysis

RESEARCH CRITIQUE: QUANTITATIVE ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
During this course, you will complete three research critiques: quantitative, qualitative, and applied, mixed methods, or program evaluation. The focus is on the word research, not article. For each research critique, you will select an article reporting research in some area of the field of education.This assignment helps you learn how to evaluate research, identify the main components of good research, and start building your literature review.

INSTRUCTIONS
Select one quantitative peer-reviewed research study published in an article related to your topic of interest. All articles must be of educational studies conducted and published in the United States or Canada within the past five years. You may not use meta-analyses or meta-syntheses; all research evaluated must be original.
After thoroughly reviewing the study in the selected article, compose a full three-page review (not including the required title and references pages). Brevity is crucial as it forces you to include only the most essential information. An abstract should not be included.
Using the provided Research Critique: Quantitative Template,
• Provide a brief, three-sentence introductory paragraph introducing the article and the purpose of the critique. Note the article author’s name with the appropriate in-text citation.
• Under the Summary heading, provide the following. You may write your entire summary in one paragraph or break it down into the Level 2 headings in the template. If you use the Level 2 headings, each should have at least three sentences under each heading and a short three-sentence introduction after the Level 1 Summary heading.
o Purpose of the study
o Description of participants/sample (e.g., who, how many, selection method)
o Research design(s) (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental, casual-comparative, descriptive, correlational, regression, etc.). See the Read: Quantitative Research: Common Types of Analyses and Research Designs item in the Learn section of this module for comprehensive information about research designs.
o Method(s) of data collection (e.g., survey, test, questionnaire, etc.)
o Method(s) of statistical analysis (e.g., t-test, ANOVA, ANCOVA, chi-square, Pearson Product-Moment correlation, Spearman rho, etc.). See the Read: Quantitative Research: Common Types of Analyses and Research Designs item in the Learn section of this module for comprehensive information about common types of analyses.
Note: If the article you selected does not identify how the data was statistically analyzed, it is likely the article is either not a quantitative study or not an actual research report but a summary of a study. In this case, you must select another article.
o Results – be specific with data and provide a layman’s interpretation
• Under the Critical Analysis heading, think critically through the research study’s main points. Who was the intended audience? Did the author clearly communicate the main points to the intended audience? Did the author provide adequate support to back their claims? Also address the following items:
o Opportunities for further research not already stated in the article
o Threats to validity or rival hypotheses not already discussed. The validity of the research should be explored by discussing the limitations.
o Other original insights or criticism
o Implications of the findings. Think about how other researchers or practitioners can use the findings.
You may write your entire critical analysis in one paragraph or break it down into the Level 2 headings in the template. If you use the Level 2 headings, each should have at least three sentences under each heading and a short three-sentence introduction after the Level 1 Critical Analysis heading. If you used Level 2 headings in the Summary section of your paper, you must use them in the Critical Analysis section, too.
One peer-reviewed source in addition to the article you are critiquing should be cited in this section to support your opinions of the validity of the article and/or its research methods.
• Under the Discussion heading, provide the following in a minimum of five sentences:
o Insight from professional experience as related to the issue in the article
o Connection to the topic you are considering researching for your degree
o Biblical integration
Include a references page with three references: the article being critiqued, the Bible, and one additional peer-reviewed resource to support your claims.
Current APA formatting is expected throughout your paper. The Research Critique: Quantitative Example has been provided for your reference.