Choose a source from your research paper and answer the questions on the attached worksheet.

Evaluating a Research Article

1. What the Author Said
   1. What is the central question addressed by the article?  What is the study’s hypothesis
   2. Briefly outline the most important procedures the author used to test the hypothesis.  Also pay attention to the sample.
   3. Using your words, succinctly summarize the major findings of the study. 
   4. What major conclusions does the author draw from these findings?

1. Integration and Evaluation
   1. Assessment: Do you think the author’s conclusions are valid (both internally and externally), reliable and reasonable?  Provide an explanation.  How do these conclusions relate to the methods used to test the hypothesis?
   2. Integration: How does this research article fit into your research project?  Does it support your project hypothesis?  Does it support other literature you are reviewing?
   3. What Questions Remain?   Are there important issue this article does not address or resolve? How do these issues relate to your research project?

Some Do’s and Don’ts from past semesters:

1. Don’t simply copy sentences from the article or abstract.  Think about what is being said and put it in your own words.  If you do use a direct quote, it must be cited as such.  Just changing a word here and there does not make it your own words.
2. You do not have to summarize the literature review in the article you are reviewing.  One our two sentences about the author’s rationale should suffice.
3. Refer to the article by author and date citations only.  Don’t use first names or honorifics (e.g. Dr.).
4. Offer your own criticisms, not just what the authors give.  On the other hand, don’t overlook the criticisms raised by the authors.
5. You can mention materials used in the study but don’t give a long description of them unless it is relevant to your hypothesis or critique. 
6. Use complete sentences.  Make sure what you are saying makes sense.  You can best tell this by reading your paper over after you write it.