All research efforts are flawed in some way. Some flaws can be overcome and some cannot. Read the assigned article and think about the questions listed below. Then write a critical evaluation of the assigned article. You should address each of the questions below. Be sure to answer each question respectively and number your responses to each of the questions. Make sure to explain your responses. Please keep your paper to 4-5 double-spaced, typed pages, using one inch margins, and 12-pt. font. Papers longer than 5 pages will not be accepted for grading.
1. Briefly state the purpose of the research (the research question). Identify the nature of the research question (descriptive, relational or experimental) that the research is attempting to address.
2. Identify the research strategy (e.g., McGrath’s circumplex) and research design (e.g., X’s and O’s) employed. Do the strategy and design appropriately address the researcher’s question(s) (as described in question 1 above)? Why or why not?
3. Is the sample appropriate? Have the study variables been operationalized appropriately?
4. Discuss the pros and cons (strengths and weaknesses) of the research strategy and design used. Please include a discussion of how well each of McGrath’s 3 goals (A,B,C) were satisfied with the research strategy utilized and all possible threats to the internal and external validity of the research (be sure to explain how these threats may have operated to influence the study results). What are the limitations of this research in addition to those you identified with respect to the research strategy and design (e.g. subject-experimenter effects)? Can you generate alternative interpretations of the researcher’s results?
Note: Research articles often represent hours of time and energy invested by the authors in conceptualizing the research question, designing the study, collecting data, analyzing the results, and formulating conclusions. Please be mindful of this fact, and regardless of the flaws you have identified, try to respect that this work may represent something personally valuable to the authors. The purpose of a critique is to improve the work, not tear it down.