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Critiquing Quantitative Research Studies

This document provides guidelines for critiquing a quantitative research study by outlining key elements that influence the validity and robustness of the research. It identifies elements such as the writing style, author qualifications, research purpose, literature review, theoretical framework, sample, methodology, data analysis, discussion of findings, and referencing. For each element, it provides questions to consider when evaluating that aspect of the research study, such as whether the purpose is clearly stated, the sample and methodology are appropriate, results are discussed in relation to the literature, and limitations are addressed.

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Andy Lim Teik Hong
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97 views2 pages

Critiquing Quantitative Research Studies

This document provides guidelines for critiquing a quantitative research study by outlining key elements that influence the validity and robustness of the research. It identifies elements such as the writing style, author qualifications, research purpose, literature review, theoretical framework, sample, methodology, data analysis, discussion of findings, and referencing. For each element, it provides questions to consider when evaluating that aspect of the research study, such as whether the purpose is clearly stated, the sample and methodology are appropriate, results are discussed in relation to the literature, and limitations are addressed.

Uploaded by

Andy Lim Teik Hong
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Research questions: guidelines for critiquing a quantitative research study

Adapted from Coughlan et al (2007)


Elements influencing validity of the research
Elements Questions
Writing style Is the report well written – concise,
grammatically correct, avoids the use of
jargon?
Is it well laid out and organized?
Author Do the researcher’s qualifications/position
indicate a degree of knowledge in this field?
Report title Is the title clear, accurate and unambiguous?
Abstract Does the abstract offer a clear overview of the
study, including the research problem, sample,
methodology, findings and recommendations?
Elements influencing robustness of the research
Elements Questions
Purpose/research problem Is the purpose of the study/research question
clearly identified?
Logical consistency Does the research report follow the steps of
the research process in a logical manner?
Do these steps naturally flow and the links
clear?
Literature review Is the review logically organised?
Does it offer a balanced critical analysis of the
literature?
Is the majority of the literature of recent origin?
Is it mainly from primary sources?
Theoretical framework Has a conceptual or theoretical framework
been identified?
Is the framework adequately described? Is the
framework appropriate?
Aims/objectives/research question/hypotheses Have aims and objectives, a research question
or hypothesis been identified?
If so, are they clearly stated?
Do they reflect the information presented in
the literature review?
Sample Has the target population been clearly
identified?
How was the sample selected?
Was it a probability or non-probability sample?
Is it of adequate size?
Are the inclusion/exclusion criteria clearly
identified?
Ethical considerations Were the participants fully informed about the
nature of the research?
Was the autonomy/confidentiality of the
participants guaranteed?
Were the participants protected from harm?
Was ethical permission granted for the study?
Operational definitions Are all the terms, theories and concepts
mentioned in the study clearly defined?
Methodology Is the research design clearly identified?
Has the data gathering instrument been
described?
Is the instrument appropriate?
How was it developed?
Were reliability and validity testing undertaken
and the results discussed?
Was a pilot study undertaken?
Data analysis/results Are the data collection strategies described?
Are the strategies used to analyse the data
described?
Did the researcher follow the steps of the data
analysis method identified?
Was data saturation achieved?
Discussion Are the findings linked back to the literature
review?
If a hypothesis was identified, was it
supported?
Were the strengths and limitations of the study
including generalizability discussed?
Was a recommendation for further research
made?
References Were all the books, journals and other media
alluded to in the study accurately referenced?

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