EDUC 750
Research Critique: Applied, Mixed Methods, or Program Evaluation Assignment Instructions
Overview
During this course, you will complete three research critiques: quantitative, qualitative, and applied, mixed methods, or program evaluation. The focus is on the word research, not article. For each research critique, you will select an article reporting research in some area of the field of education. This assignment helps you learn how to evaluate research, identify the main components of good research, and start building your literature review.
Instructions
Select one applied research, action research, mixed methods, or program evaluation peer-reviewed research study published in an article related to your topic of interest. All articles must be of educational studies conducted and published in the United States or Canada within the past five years. Because applied research could be either quantitative or qualitative, you must be able to distinguish the correct characteristics to include the correct components; it must be true applied research (meaning the research findings are providing solutions to a problem). You may not use meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, or longitudinal studies; all research evaluated must be original.
After thoroughly reviewing the study in the selected article, compose a full three-page review (not including the required title and references pages). Brevity is crucial as it forces you to include only the most essential information. An abstract should not be included.
Using the provided Research Critique: Applied, Mixed Methods, or Program Evaluation Template:
• Provide a brief, three-sentence introductory paragraph introducing the article and the purpose of the critique. Note the article author’s name with the appropriate in-text citation.
• Under the Summary heading (Level 1), provide the following information. The short paragraph under each Level 2 heading (see template) should have at least three sentences.
o Purpose of the study
o Description of participants/sample (e.g., who, how many, selection method)
o Research Design – Identify whether the article is more quantitative or qualitative in nature and/or, if applicable, if it is action research or a program evaluation.
o Applied Research (also identify if the applied research is action research or not)
▪ Quantitative analysis (experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, regression, etc.) and/or
▪ Qualitative analysis (narrative, grounded theory, case study, phenomenology, ethnography, etc.).
o Mixed methods – can be basic or applied research (explain which methods were used, and if one measure -quantitative or qualitative-was used more than the other).
o Program evaluation (explain whether quantitative or qualitative measures were dominant).
o Method(s) of Data Collection
o Quantitative (survey, test, questionnaire, etc.) and/or
o Qualitative (questionnaire, document analysis, observation, open-ended or structured interview, etc.)
o Method(s) of Analysis
o Quantitative: A statistical analysis (t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), chi-square, Pearson product-moment correlation, Spearman rho, etc.); and/or
o Qualitative: Inductive/deductive approach, point of focus, summaries, memoing, indexing, coding, grouping, themes, order of analysis, type of analysis (content, narrative, discourse, framework, grounded theory)
o Results – be specific with statistical data and/or themes/overall findings and provide a layman’s interpretation.
• Under the Critical Analysis heading (Level 1), the short paragraph under each Level 2 heading (see template) should have at least three sentences. Think critically through the research study’s main points. Who was the intended audience? Did the author clearly communicate the main points to the intended audience? Did the author provide adequate support to back their claims? Also, address the following items:
o Opportunities for further research not already stated in the article
o Threats to the validity
o Quantitative: to the validity or rival hypotheses not already discussed and/or
o Qualitative: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability
o Other original insights or criticism
o Implications of the findings (who, possibly researchers or practitioners, can use the findings and how)
One peer-reviewed source (your textbook or other research study) in addition to the article you are critiquing should be cited in this section to support your opinions of the validity of the article and/or its research methods.
• Under the Discussion heading, provide the following in a minimum of five sentences:
o Insight from your professional experience as related to the issue in the article
o Connection to the topic you are considering researching for your degree
o Biblical integration
• Reference page (Level 1 heading): Include a references page with three references: the article being critiqued, the Bible, and one additional peer-reviewed resource to support your claims.
Current APA formatting is expected throughout your paper. The Research Critique: Mixed Methods Example, Research Critique: Applied Example, and Research Critique: Program Evaluation Example have been provided for your reference.
