UST 404/504

Article Review assignment

Page 1 of 3

General information and link to the urban librarian is at

http://researchguides.csuohio.edu/urban
Research results are published in refereed or peer reviewed journals. The
articles that are submitted for publication to these journals are screened by a
group of reviewers from the field that relates to the research. This helps us to
know that the results are from a credible study and that the knowledge obtained
does inform the field. There is a set pattern to a research article.
The author will first introduce the general research area and begin to identify
questions that relate to the field. They then will review other studies around the
area they are interested in. This is called literature review section. This section
helps to narrow down the research question that the researcher is interested in.
It also provides the evidence for the relationship of variables chosen for the
study. Generally, after this the author will state their hypothesis or research
questions here.
Generally the next section will be the methods section. Here the author will
identify the variables that they chose to test and how they obtained the data
(survey, census data etc.). They will identify the test they used to analyze the
data. Sometimes this is done as a part of the Results section. The Results
section explains the outcome of the statistical test used and its implications. The
article generally ends with a conclusion section relating the results to the field at
large and identifying further research that needs to be done.
For this assignment, you are to take a research article that has been published
in a refereed journal and analyze it as follows:
1. What is the research question? What is the overall question that the
author(s) explore in their study?
2. Do the author(s) use an experiment or an observational study for their
research? (Experimental studies require that something be done which
can effect a change on a variable.)
3. What are the variables that the author(s) identified as a part of the
research design? Do you feel that these variables are appropriate for this
study? Why or why not.
4. What type of data is used? (Identify the type of variable. Give the level of
measurement.)
5. What is the hypothesis(es) for the study? Is the hypothesis appropriate in
light of the research question?
6. What is the statistical test(s) that was (were) chosen to test the
hypothesis(es)? Do you feel that this test(s) were appropriate for the
data? Why or why not? Be sure that your article does use a statistical
test. Many referred articles are summaries or present descriptive
statistics for their area of interest. Your article for this assignment must

UST 404/504

Article Review assignment

Page 2 of 3

use a statistical test to analyze the data. Tests can include but are
not limited to regression, correlation, Chi-Square, ANOVA. If you are
unsure if your article qualifies, please contact me. I am happy to
help. You can look up most tests in your text. If not included in the
text, I suggest that you Google the test name.
7. What were the result(s) that were reported for the tests? What was the
conclusion regarding the hypothesis (es)?
8. What do the author(s) feel is the broader implication of their study? Do
you agree with this?
9. Did the author raise any cautions about the results of the study? Do they
note limitations in applying the conclusions?
10. Do you feel that this study has helped to advance knowledge? Do you
feel that it is possible to replicate the findings?
11. What out of this study did you find interesting or valuable?
Your paper is to be word processed, double spaced, grammar and spell
checked. The length of the paper is to be what is required to adequately
answer all of the above questions. The questions are given to you as a
guide. Do NOT just give one sentence answers to the questions and list
them out. Rather, address the appropriateness of each of these issues.
Relate what you are seeing to what you have learned or are learning in this
class. Do NOT write your paper in question and answer form. Rather
give me a critique that covers all of the questions above in narrative form.
BE SURE you choose a research article that uses a statistical test for
the data that is collected. This is the ONLY acceptable type of article
that you can use for this assignment!
Assignment is due, October 30, 2015 so I suggest you begin as soon
as possible to find the article that you will review.

To be sure you are using a peer reviewed journal go to

http://library.csuohio.edu/
Click on research databases. Select Academic Search Complete. Type
your subject in the search block. Before you begin your search, check the
boxes for EBSCO Full Text, Scholarly (peer reviewed journals), and set the
language to English, and the document type to article. This will assist you in
having articles that do meet the criteria of this assignment.
If you are working from home, you will have to authenticate that you are a
CSU student. This happens when you choose Academic Search Complete.
You will be taken to a log in screen for authentication where you will choose
Cleveland State University and will log in with your name, student ID and
library PIN number. If you do not have a library PIN number go to the library

UST 404/504

Article Review assignment

Page 3 of 3

home page and choose Scholar On-Line Catalogue. On that screen above
the search scholar note will read a number of items to choose from. Pick
My Account. Follow the directions to be able to create your pin.
Authentication will let you use the data base for 2 hours when you will be
directed to authenticate again.
Note: By selecting full text before your search, you should be able to
download a file of the article to your computer instead of having to print them
all out.
If you have questions concerning the appropriateness of articles that you find,
please show me the article or send it to me via email. I am happy to let you
know if the article will work for this assignment.