week 8

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How to Write the Week 8 Assignment Sara Turpel

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I want to give you some guidance on the Week 8 assignment. What I've found from working with previous classes in this course, is that the research critique papers tend to be more of a synopsis or retelling of the research, than a true critique.  I want to give you some helpful hints on completing this assignment because it is NOT a synopsis of the research, it is a scholarly critique of the study.

1.  For each section, there are questions to ask yourself as you go about writing the paper.  For example, is the methodology chosen by the researcher appropriate for the research question?  We have talked in our discussions about the di�erent approaches of qualitative and quantitative research.  If the study is comparing two interventions, it is likely a quantitative study, right?  You do this for every section.  Is the data collection method appropriate for the research methodology?  Is the data analysis method appropriate for the research question?  

Do not write this in a Q & A format - write it in regular paragraph format.  

2.  You will need other sources to help you answer the questions about the research study.  You can't just write, "the chi squared test was used to analyze the data."  You need to know whether or not chi squared is appropriate in this type of study.  To �nd that out, you'll need to consult a source.  Your Schmidt and Brown text is a good source, but it may not be the best source for all of the questions you need to answer.  You might need additional sources.  For example, you may need to look up the statistical tests that were done in another source. This is just one example, you need to do this for all sections.  Every time I give this example, I get papers where the only thing that is supported is the statistics.  You have to support ALL assertions.

So...when you are reading your article for the �rst time, use a highlighter and highlight some of the key elements in the paper.  The themes of the literature review, the research question, the method, the data analysis, etc.  

When you identify the research question and then the methodology, you'll use one of your additional resources (the Schmidt and Brown text, for example) to decide whether the research methodology is appropriate for the research question.  

Again, here's the important thing:  Don't just write that the methodology is appropriate for the research study, you need to write WHY it is appropriate.  One sentence is good, you don't need a whole paragraph on WHY, but you do need to PROVIDE A SCHOLARLY ARGUMENT for ALL of your assertions. 

3.  As always, the submission should be scholarly.  You need to use APA format, appropriately cite and reference your sources (including the study you are critiquing).  NO FIRST PERSON! 

Remember - this is not an opinion essay, you should be supporting the reasons you make your conclusions for each section.