Instructions:
Research Critique CPsy 2301
It is important to read and critically analyze scientific research to understand the basis of our knowledge of child development. The purpose of this assignment is to summarize and critically analyze the assigned scientific research study.
Please address all of the following questions (Note: You may copy/paste questions for each section into your document, but please remove questions/subheadings before submitting your paper, and adhere to length guidelines):
SUMMARY (1- 1½ pages):
✓ Introduction: What is the main purpose of the study, why is the study important?
✓ Methods: Describe the subjects (how many? ages? male/female ratio? ethnicity?; Summarize the methods (what did they measure? how did they measure it? what were the procedures?)
✓ Results: What were the main findings? What were the researcher’s conclusions?
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1½ -2 pages):
✓ Identify two strengths of the methods used in this study, beyond those listed by the authors, and explain why they are strengths.
▪ In other words, what are some things about how they did this study (e.g. what they measured, how they measured it, who their subjects were, the procedure, etc.) that strengthened their study?
▪ In what way did these factors strengthen this study (e.g. how would this give you more confidence in the procedure or validity or generalizability of results of this study)?
✓ Identify two weaknesses or limitations of the methods used in this study, beyond those listed by the authors, and explain why these are limitations.
▪ In other words, what are some things about how they did this study (e.g. what they measured, how they measured it, who their subjects were, the procedure, etc.) that might have limited their findings, and why does it limit or weaken this study? (e.g. could they have measured something else, measured something in a different way, collected their data differently?)
▪ In what way did these factors limit/weaken this study (e.g. how do these limitations give you less confidence in the procedure or validity or generalizability of the results of this study)?
✓ What further research might be helpful on this topic? Identify two questions for further exploration, and explain why exploring these questions would help clarify our understanding of this topic, or give us more confidence in the findings of this study.
✓ What are the practical implications of this research? For example, how might parents, educators, or counselors benefit from this information?
Papers will be evaluated based on how clearly and accurately the questions are answered, along with thorough and thoughtful explanations and justifications (see Grading Criteria). As usual, writing quality counts. Formal writing for an academic setting is expected. Papers must be in paragraph format, typed with 12-point Times New Roman font and 1” margins, double-spaced, and should be
~ three pages in length. Please see Writing and Formatting checklists linked in Canvas for more specific guidelines.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you answer questions in your own words. Copying passages (more than 5 words in a row) from the article is not permissible. In addition, the use of AI in the process of writing these papers is prohibited – your ideas and writing must be your own. Submission of copied or AI- generated writing is plagiarism, and will result in a 0 on the assignment and a report to the Office of Community Standards.
CPSY 2301/3301: RESEARCH CRITIQUE
Grading Criteria
SUMMARY (10 points) 1-1½ pages
Purpose of scientific article and importance of topic is stated briefly (2 points)
Concise and accurate description of the methods (subjects, measures,procedures) (5 points)
Concise and accurate description of results and conclusions (3 points)
CRITICAL ANALYSIS (20 points) 1½-2 pages
Thoughtful and detailed critical evaluation of two strengths of the methodsused in this study, going beyond those discussed by author (7 points)
Thoughtful and detailed critical evaluation of two weaknesses of the methodsused in this study, going beyond those discussed by author (7 points)
Identify and thoughtfully discuss two further questions about this topic (4 pts)
Practical implications of this research are discussed thoughtfully (2 pts)
Writing Quality & Organization (5 points)
The essay is written formally and concisely and without grammatical or spelling errors. Each paragraph contains well-organized evidence that supports the point the author is trying to make in the paragraph. Summary is written in own words, with no direct quotes. The paper is ~3 pages in length (no more than 3½ pages), typed in black ink with 12pt Times New Roman font, 1” margins, double-spaced.
Total points (Out of 35) =
The attached article is the article that the paper needs to be on.
They provided us with a sheet to use to help with the paper. That will be below
