Chapter 7 Reading and Evaluating Research Reports

1. Chapter 7 Reading and Evaluating Research Reports

2. Disclosure of Research Findings • Culmination of research process is the public disclosure of results • Article in professional journal • Presentation at a conference • Contractual research report • Thesis or dissertation

3. Typical Contents of Research Report • Preliminary information • Introduction • Methods • Results • Discussion • References • Appendix (if appropriate)

4. Preliminary Information • Title • Length should be 15 words or less • Author information • Acknowledgments • Abstract • May be as short as 150 to 200 words • Succinct summary of research study • Not required by all journals

5. Introduction Section • Typically contains 2 primary elements • Background information • Acquaints reader with foundation and rationale for conducting study • Statement of problem • May also include the research hypothesis, although less common today • Helps the reader understand why the study was conducted

6. Methods Section • Usually contains information about • Research participants • Instrumentation • Procedures • Data collection procedures • Experimental treatments • Data analysis procedures • Methodology and procedures are usually described in detail

7. Results Section • That section of a research report in which the researcher reports the results of the data collection efforts as well as the outcomes of the data analysis • Usually includes consideration information from the various statistical techniques • Indicate whether H0 was rejected or not • Normally would not include discussion or interpretation of results

8. Discussion Section • That section of a research report that contains an explanation of the results • Interpretation of the findings, culminating with the conclusions • Conclusions should relate back to research problem • Provides implications for professional practice and recommendations for future research

9. Functions of Discussion Section* • Summarize the results • Interpret the results • Offer conclusions • Theorize • Provide recommendations • Suggest future research *Adapted from Tuckman (1999)

10. References & Appendix • Listing of all books, articles, or other sources cited by the author • Format varies according to specific journal • Astute readers should carefully peruse the list of references • Appendices are rare in published articles • Questionnaires • Tabular information • Special materials or illustrations

11. Critiquing a Research Article • Astute readers should be able to critically read research reports and make informed judgments about the quality of the research • Published articles vary considerably in quality • Referred journals • Non-referred journals

12. Criteria for Critiquing an Article • Because of the wide variety of types of research projects, there is not a universally accepted list of criteria • Guidelines are similar to those one would follow for developing a research article • Consult textbook Examples 7.9 and 7.10 for checklist for evaluating research article