Article critique instructions

 

You will select a research article of your own choosing (article must be related to communication) to review and critique. You must select an article that employs one of the quantitative methods discussed in class (survey, experiment, content analysis). Instructions on how to find appropriate articles are listed on Blackboard in a document titled “How to find articles.” You will find this in the information under the “Assignments” tab.

 

Critiques should be four to five pages in length (double-spaced) and written in essay form. Critiques MUST BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. You will be penalized for excessive direct quotation. You need to include the following points in your critique:

 

 

·       An APA-style bibliographic citation of your article.

 

·       What was the purpose of this study? Why is it important? Give an overview of why the authors conducted the research.

 

·       What theory was this study based on (usually the author will state the theory). If your study does not explicitly draw on a theory, explain the literature that was used to generate the study’s hypothesis or research question.

 

·       What was the method used? Do you think this was an appropriate method to use? Why or why not? Who/what comprised the sample studied? Was this an appropriate sample? Why or why not? What was the sampling method? Was it an appropriate sampling method? Why or why not? Did the researchers adequately define their variables? What procedure did the authors employ to carry out their study?

 

·       What were the main findings? Please don’t try to list all of the findings, but focus on those that the authors and/or you find most interesting and relevant.

 

·       What limitations were there to this study? The authors should list some, but you should also think about what you’ve learned in class to find others.

 

·       What “real world” implications does this study have? How would policy makers, communications professionals, parents, teachers, etc. be able to learn something from the findings? Provide a comprehensive example.  What are some directions for future research?

 

 

How to find articles appropriate for the article critique:

 

1.     Go to the library’s website, www. http://library.northeastern.edu.

2.     Click on “FIND” in the upper left hand corner of the page.

3.     Select “Article Databases.”

4.     Scroll down to “Communications and Mass Media Complete.”

5.     Fill in your search terms at the top of the page.

6.     Select “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals.”

7.     Look through results.