Research Article Critique:

Guidelines and Grading Rubric – Week 6

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is for the student to learn to examine, analyze, critique, and summarize an original research article. Student is to select an article from a list located in Course Resources. There is a choice of articles from which you must choose ONE to complete this assignment.

Course Outcomes

Through this assignment, the student will demonstrate the ability to meet the following course outcomes:

CO1: Examine the sources of evidence that contribute to professional nursing practice. (PO #7)

CO2: Apply research principles to the interpretation of the content of published research studies. (POs #4 and 8)

CO4: Evaluate published nursing research for credibility and lab significance related to evidence-based practice. (POs #4 and 8)

CO5: Recognize the role of research findings in evidence-based practice. (POs #7 and 8)

Points

The assignment is worth a total of 175 points.

Due Date

You are to submit your paper to the Week 6 Dropbox by Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 6.

Requirements

Through this assignment, the student will:

1. Critique a peer-reviewed study, and in your own words, describe the research question, sample, design of study, data collection method, findings, and limitations of each. (CO 1, CO2,)

2. Summarize the research article and evaluate the significance to nursing. Do not just quote the author’s words. Paraphrase the information. (CO 4, CO5).

Guidelines to writing the Paper

1. Course Resources lists articles from which you are to select ONE to analyze.

2. Retrieve the full-text version of the article from the library. Read it thoroughly.

1. Introduction (one paragraph): The introduction should be interesting and capture the reader’s attention.
   1. Provide a brief description of the research article to be discussed.
   2. Discuss the purpose of your paper. The purpose statement of the paper should relate to the research article reviewed and the implications that it has to evidence based nursing practice.
   3. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

4. Describe the research question for this study in a paragraph.

1. 1. Describe the research in greater detail.
   2. Include your observations about this question.
   3. Discuss events or trends that could have affected this question.
   4. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

5. Describe the research design of this study, and in your own words discuss the design.

a. Discuss the research design of the study.

b. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the type of design and hypothesize why the author utilized the design as opposed to others.

c. You will need to summarize the information from the article in your own words

6. Describe the sample.

a. Briefly describe the sample size used for this study

b. Make a judgment as to whether the sample size was adequate and defend your answer.

c. Describe the number or participants and determine if the number of participants was adequate compared to the research question and the intent of the study.

d. Are these numbers adequate? Discuss gaps in that you identified.

e. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

7. Describe the data collection method(s)’

a. Who collected the data?

b. What tools were used?

c. What were the ethical considerations addressed and discuss gaps you identified.

d. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

8. Describe the limitations of the study.

a. Identify the limitations within the study

b. Describe how the limitations could be overcome in subsequent studies

c. Comment on why limitations are important to list and discuss within a study

d. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

9. Describe the findings reported in the study.

a. Describe the findings reported in the study

b. Discuss whether the findings of the study answered the research question posed within the study

c. Discuss the credibility of the findings

d. If the findings do not support the research question posed within the study, what do you believe is the reason?

e. You will need to summarize and analyze the information from the article in your own words

10. Summary

1. 1. Summarize important points from the body of your paper including the key components of the paper.
   2. Include a statement about the research question and the findings.
   3. Discuss the probability of implementation into practice. Based on these findings, is the evidence that you found on your topic strong enough to suggest a change in practice, or an idea for practice?
   4. End with a concluding statement.

11. Citations and References must be included to support the information within each topic area. Refer to the APA manual, Chapter 7, for examples of proper reference format. In-text citations are to be noted for all information contained in your paper that is not your original idea or thought. Ask yourself, “How do I know this?” and then cite the source.

1. Reference Page: The Reference Page should start on a new page (insert a page break). All references should be cited within the body of the paperas (Author, year) and the full reference should be included in APA format on the reference page. A url link alone is not an adequate reference. See the APA Guidelines in Course Resources for examples of properly formatted references.