Critically Appraise The Following Article
Rubric for Article Critique Reports
Week 4 – Assignments 4a and 4b
| Assignment 4 (indicate 4a or 4b) | |||
| Part | Question | Answer | Points |
| Title | 1.Title of the article, journal name, your name | 3 | |
| Purpose/Research problem | 2a. What is the purpose of the study? Is it clearly identified? Is the research problem important? | 5 | |
| 2b. Identify the dependent variable(s) | 3 | ||
| 2c. Identify the independent variable(s) | 3 | ||
| Literature review | 3a. Are the cited sources relevant to the study? | 3 | |
| 3b. Does the literature review offer a balanced critical analysis of the literature? | 3 | ||
| 3c. Are the cited studies recent? | 3 | ||
| Theoretical framework* | 4a. Has a conceptual or theoretical framework been identified? | 3 | |
| 4b. If yes, is the framework adequately described? | 3 | ||
| Design and procedures | 5a. Identify the study design used in this study? Make sure that you select the exact type of design used, i.e., one of the three discussed this week. | 5 | |
| 5b. Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question? | 3 | ||
| 5c. What type of sampling design was used? | 5 | ||
| 5d. Was the sample size justified on the basis of a power analysis or other rationale? | 5 | ||
| 5e. Are the inclusion and exclusion criteria clearly identified? What are they? | 5 | ||
| 5f. What measurement tools were used for the dependent variable(s)? | 5 | ||
| 5g. What measurement tools were used for the independent variable(s)? | 5 | ||
| 5h. Were validity and reliability issues discussed? | 4 | ||
| Ethical considerations | 6a. Were the participants fully informed about the nature of the research? | 3 | |
| 6b. Were the participants protected from harm? | 2 | ||
| 6c. Was ethical permission granted for the study? | 3 | ||
| Data analysis | 7a. What type of data and statistical analysis was undertaken? | 3 | |
| 7b. Was the statistical analysis appropriate to address the research question? | 2 | ||
| Results | 8. What are the results of the study? Did the results answer the research question(s)? | 5 | |
| Discussion | 9a. Were the findings linked back to the literature review? | 3 | |
| 9b. Did the authors identify study limitations? What were they? | 5 | ||
| 9c. Do you think the limitations are serious enough to impact the internal and external validity** of the study? | 3 | ||
| Overall assessment | 10. What is your overall assessment of the study? | 5 | |
| Total | 100 |
Source: Coughlan M, Cronin P, Ryan F. Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 1: quantitative research. Br J Nurs. 2007;16(11):658-63.
* A conceptual or theoretical framework/model is a representation of a concept and the relationships between this concept and other variables that might impact it or be affected by it. It provides structure to a study and a rationale for the different relationships between the variables. Not every study has to have a conceptual or theoretical framework clearly outlined. The better research questions are usually the ones informed by theory and a corresponding framework. For an example, check the following article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3934012/
** The validity of a study, in contrast to the validity of measurements, is the degree to which study results are accurate and well-founded, when account is taken of study methods, representativeness of study sample, and nature of the population from which it is drawn.
· Internal validity (results are attributed to hypothesized effect and not sample differences)
· External validity (generalizability)