The purpose of this paper is to appraise the research design, internal/external validity, data collection/analysis, discussion/conclusions, and overall merit of a quantitative research article.
Identify the study design used (e.g., experimental, quasi-experimental, non-experimental, cross-sectional, longitudinal, retrospective, prospective, comparative, correlational, descriptive).
Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the research design used.
Analyze whether the study design chosen was appropriate to address the research question(s).
Then, examine the internal and external validity:
Discuss the steps taken to control situational and/or environmental factors.
Evaluate strategies to control for subject characteristics, such as random assignment, matching, or statistical adjustment.
Appraise the overall internal validity of the study; what is the strength of the association between the independent and dependent variables?
Appraise the overall external validity of the study; to what extent are the results generalizable?
Assess the data collection and analysis:
Describe the specific type of data collection methods used (e.g., self-report, observational, biophysiological).
Appraise the strengths and limitations of the data collection methods.
Discuss whether the statistical analysis methods appear appropriate to address the research questions. For example, do the analyses align with the research questions or hypotheses?
Analyze the discussion and conclusions:
Discuss the main findings of the study. What is the practical or clinical significance of the findings?
Does the discussion section align appropriately with the study results?
Do the authors effectively situate results within past literature and acknowledge pertinent study limitations?
In the discussion and/or conclusions, do the authors over-reach beyond the study findings?
Finally, considering your critiques of all sections of this study (including the previous M3 and M6 papers), analyze the overall merit of the study.
This paper should be 5-6 pages and follow current APA guidelines. You must use APA heading levels to organize the paper and identify the main aspects of your critique. Support your analysis with 5 sources in addition to the article being critiqued.
