Assignment: Scholarly articles critique
Rationale:
The purpose of this assignment is to develop our habits of inquiry in an intentional way; and to systematically examine our sources with rigor. We're striving to determine if consensus exists on our topics by verifying that scholars have demonstrated discrimination is occurring using a variety of methods. As scholars, we're challenging the world around us, constantly asking: how do we know what we know? At the same time, we're minimizing confirmation bias, the tendency to search for and interpret information in a way that confirms our own preexisting beliefs or hypotheses ("echo chamber") while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.
Instructions & Article requirements:
• The two articles must be scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.
• The two articles must use different methodologies. In other words, if one article uses statistical analysis, the other uses surveys (or focus groups, ethnographic interviews, textual analysis, GIS mapping, systematic observations, literary criticism, etc., depending on the discipline or field of study).
Scholarly article critique
Once you review the literature and select two articles, cite and examine each article:
1. What did they research? (e.g. research question, hypothesis)
2. How did they research it? (e.g. methodology)
3. What did they find from their research? (e.g. results, discussion, conclusion)
Then briefly compare and critique the articles, noting any strengths, limitations, bias, or areas for further research. What are the similarities and differences of the research methods used and findings reported? Your critique is informed by your lens as a student-scholar researching this topic in the context of mass media today. In other words, you're not an expert (yet) but you have a unique perspective in the way you experience the world, in the information sources you select, and in the connections you make from these sources.