a. Locate a short research article (no more than 10 pages) that you can read and understand with little difficulty.
b. Make sure it has: an abstract, a clearly marked methodology section, a clearly marked results/findings section, and a discussion or conclusion section (or both).
c. Also, make sure the full text of the article is available to download, preferably in .pdf format. And download and save the article to your computer.
d. Read the abstract of your research article. Highlight or underscore what the goal of the research was, what the researchers did, and what their basic results were.
e. Now you’re ready to review the details of the article and write your own report.
WHAT TO WRITE:
a. Your written report should follow the following format, and be typed. Although you do not need to follow APA format, or provide a cover sheet, spelling and grammar will be evaluated for this assignment.
b. At the top right of the first page, write your name. On the first line, write the title of the research article you are reviewing.
c. In the first paragraph, answer these questions about the authors and their reseach:
1. Who are the authors?
2. What are their professional designations (e.g., Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice)?
3. What are their institutional affiliations (e.g., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)? If there are many co-authors, give the affiliation for only the lead author, whose contact information is usually provided.
4. What questions is this research trying to answer? I.e., what are the goals of their research project?
d. In the second paragraph, answer this question about significance: According to the authors, why is it important to study this topic and to find the answer to their specific questions?
e. In the third paragraph, answer these questions about methodology:
1. What were the authors’ units of analysis (e.g., 50 children? 100 ads)?
2. How did they study those units (e.g., experiment? Content analysis? Interview?)
3. Provide key details of how they performed their research.
4. When did their research take place?
f. In the fourth paragraph, answer this question about results/findings:
What were the most important results the authors found? It’s not necessary to list all results.
g. In the fifth paragraph, answer these questions about discussion/conclusions:
1. Identify two conclusions that the authors reached after they analyzed their results.
2. Identify two limitations the authors point out about their research.
Your responses to all four questions must be thorough, detailed, and accurate.
Mandatory Source:
Chapter 15 in Earl Babbie, The Basics of Social Research, 6th ed. Wadsworth, 2014. ISBN 113359414X