For this final INDIVIDUAL assignment, you are to critique a research article. Read your assigned article and, in full sentences, write complete answers to each of the following questions. Articles are assigned as follows:
1) What is the problem this research concerns?
2) What ethical issues are addressed in this article? What evidence do you see of the researcher(s) addressing ethical issues?
3) What hypotheses were tested in this research? For each hypothesis, identify both dependent and independent variables being sure to classify each (e.g., The dependent variable for Hypothesis 1 was XX and the independent variables were YY and ZZ).
4) How was each variable operationalized? What did the author(s) report about the reliability and/or validity of each measure?
5) What is the source of the data? (That is, questionnaire, intensive interview, documents, existing statistical information, observations, laboratory manipulations, field manipulations, etc.) In some studies there are two or more sources of data. Give a brief overview of how the data were acquired.
6) What was the overall design of this study? Be sure to indicate whether your study was cross-sectional or longitudinal and whether it was qualitative, quantitative, or a mixed methods design.
7) What types of statistical tests were utilized by the researchers?
8) Were the researchers’ hypotheses supported? How do you know?
9) What were the major findings of this research?
10) How do the researchers findings relate to social work practice or policy?
11)Imagine you work in an agency serving a population similar to the population studied in your assigned article. How would the findings of this research impact the work you did with your clients? If you were a manager, how might this research inform your organizational responsibilities?
12) If you wanted to conduct a similar study, what specifically would you do to improve on what the researchers did? It is not sufficient to say that you would do nothing, as no research is perfect. You must provide at least one suggestion, but additional suggestions will be considered for extra credit.
THIS CAN BE IN QUESTION/ANSWER FORM. THE ARTICLE HAS BEEN ATTACHED.
