Research experiment: attached PDF
TOPIC: object, permanence, and cats and dogs
Write a critical summary of a scientific research report. The article must be specific to this course, and will help to make up your literature review for your final research report. The critical summary should be between 2-3 pages long (but longer is ok). You must use your own words. Do not quote–it’s not done in APA style!
This critical summary requires that you read and, in your own words, summarize the contents of one peer-reviewed research/experiment journal article. For your summary, in your own words, present their hypothesis, their rationale for their hypothesis and their reasoning, how they conducted their study, what they found, and what they say it means. After you summarize the article, you will then critique the article. Use your critical thinking skills to think about whether or not their methodology actually tested their hypothesis. Were their methods done well, or were there problems with their procedures? In their results and discussion sections, did they interpret their results correctly? What was their reasoning? Was their reasoning correct? How could they have done the research better (if they could have)?
Expect to have to read the article more than once.
SUMMARIZE: Summarize the content and cite the source. What theory are they testing and why? What are the main arguments? What is the point of this scientific article? What is covered? What is the hypothesis? What Methods did they use? What did they conclude about their findings? If someone asked what this article is about, what would you say? The length of your article and its content will determine how detailed your summary. You must use your own words. Do not quote–it’s not done in APA style! .
CRITIQUE: After you summarize the article, you will then want to critique the article. Use your critical thinking skills to think about whether or not their methodology actually tested their hypothesis. Were their methods done well, or were there problems with their procedures? Did they forget some potential confounding variables? In their results and discussion sections, did they interpret their results correctly? What was their reasoning about their findings? Was their reasoning correct? How could they have done the research better (if they could have)? Remember about what you have learned in Week 1 about the different Research Designs: Don’t critique sex of subjects or number of subjects unless it truly affects the results testing their hypotheses. Please do not critique writing style, tables or figures, or “missing” sections. That is the journal editor’s job, not ours. Critique content, only. Remember, THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL OPINION. IT IS A SCIENTIFIC CRITIQUE BASED ON METHODOLOGY, LOGIC, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, AND REASONING.
Format: Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) with 1″ margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. For APA style and format details go to: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ and use the information for General Format.
The expectation is for good, formal, scientific, APA Style writing. Good sentence structure and grammar, logical organization of material, and the absence of subjective and informal language are expected. This doesn’t mean use a Thesaurus to find “big 10-dollar words.” But it means to start working towards a professional and scientific writing style.
Grading Rubric
45-50 pts: 1. Student writes a two-to-three page or longer summary/critique, using their own words, that accurately summarizes and scientifically critiques the research article. Student did not quote or paraphrase. Student used their own words.
2. Student provides accurate and detailed enough summary so that reader fully can understand the theory, the controversy, hypothesis, methods, findings (without statistics), and conclusions of the reviewed article. Student demonstrates accurate understanding of scientific theory and concepts in the article.
3. Student provides clear and concise scientific critique and evaluation of the article, including good points, weaknesses, whether or not findings support or refute hypothesis, whether or not conclusions are justified. Student does not critique writing style, format, or “confusing” language.
4. Student follows the format found in Week 5. Student writes in APA style and uses correct citations of the source using APA style. Student shows professional, scientific writing style with good sentence structure, grammar, and logical organization of material.
