Jo B wrote:
> "Jani"  wrote in message
> news:fub45r$25jg$1@energise.enta.net...
>>
>> "Jo B"  wrote in message
>> news:5s1Oj.18018$B83.6882@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
>>> Hey guys and gals,
>>>
>>> I know theres some academic bods here and people who have done such
>>> things in their misspent youth - academic research.
>>>
>>> I have to do a research critique for my course and I've no idea
>>> what I'm doing. I've managed to avoid things like stats and numbers
>>> all through my life and now they've been thrown at me and I'm
>>> supposed to be able to say whether the research is good or bad.
>>> Maybe I'm just scared of the numbers and this isn't actually as
>>> hard as it looks so any assistance or reassurance
>>> would be very nice thank you.
>>
>> If it's quantititittive stuff, I'll back away politely. Stats scares
>> me. If it's just picking holes in qual, that's different.
>
> Heh, I'll put my hand up to running away too.
>>
>> Have a look at *what* they want you to critique. Most studies have
>> some sort of conclusion, written in real words *grin* which
>> summarises all the fancy tables up above. You can get away with a
>> lot by cutting to the chase, depends whether they're training you to
>> do stuff, or learn *how* to do stuff.
>
> The class got divided into groups and I'm in the only group that got a
> quantitative research paper to crit *rolls eyes*. We have had like an
> hours tuition from our course leader about research and critique - I
> think this is cos she is new to research and is nervous of it herself.
>
> Fortunately my partner did Stats at AS level so at least I now know
> that SD is short for standard deviation although the finer points of
> the definition still elude me.
>
> The assessment criteria states:
> "Students are required to submit a focused research critique. The
> article selected for review will be provided by the module tutor to
> correspond with the oral presentation topic.
>
> "The major strengths and weaknesses of the studies' chosen
> methodology, the sample used, validity, reliability and ethical
> issues should be investigated.
>
> "Critically analyse the nature, purpose and limitations of the
> research paper and its use in promoting evidence based practice and
> effectiveness. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of all stages of the
> research process. Identify and explore ethical issues in research.
> Critically analyse a published research report and assess the
> relevance to evidence based practice
> Construct a written report in an acceptable academic format that
> employs a balanced and logical argument."
>
> I really am all at sea with this bloody thing. I have no faith in my
> tutor anymore and there are no other members of the teaching staff
> that have done any research stuff at all.
>
> I could well be just panicking but at least I can get it off my chest
> before I have a go at this assignment. I'll probably pass anyway but
> I'm a crazy perfectionist type and 'just a pass' is never good enough
> for me.
>
> Cheers for the response tho Jani

Ok, I do research for a living, so what you are being asked to do is do what 
my boss does to me when I submit a paper.

So, here's the trick:

What is the aim of the experiement that was performed?

Does the conclusion of hte paper answer that aim?

Does the data fit with the conclusion?

What woudl hte null hypothesis be? (ie, if there was no effect?)

Is the methodology reasonable?

Was a control used - if so, was it a suitable control?

Are there any doubts related to the conclusion reached? if so what are they 
and why?

How *reliable* is the data presented. If the data has a wide standard 
deviation, would the conclusion still be valid if you shifted all the data 
to one end or the other of that standard deviation? What woudl the sources 
of errors be? How could they be minimised? is the author aware of the 
errors?

As to ethics, well, thats a different kettle of fish, but was ethics 
metnioned when the methodology was written up? Why did hte author choose 
that methodology rather than another?

In other words, do you believe the conclusion of the paper? If you are yet 
to be convinced, what further data would you require to be convinced and/or 
why aren't you ocnvinced?

Thats what critical analysis is all about - getting into the author's head 
and work out why said experiement was done and what biases were present (if 
any) in the conclusion.

Hope that helps  a bit,

Yowie

Thanks for the help on this - that was pretty useful Yowie.
Been unable to reply before now as puter went wobbly then we went away on
hols.

Catch up time for emails

Jo