Sociological Journal Article Review

Outline (Be sure to apply the rubric criteria to each section as you edit): 


1)   Introduction: What is the main topic of this paper? Why did you choose it?

2)   Overview: What is the subject of the article? Describe briefly the main research questions (hypotheses) of the article. If there are many hypotheses, choose one or two that are most interesting to you.

3)   Method: What method of scientific investigation did they use? Survey? Observation? Experiment? Describe how they gathered their data: identify anything that makes sense to you: method of observation, sample size, recruitment, procedures, etc.. (The article will have a section in which they outline their methods - don't get too technical unless you know what they are talking about. Talk about what you know, not what doesn't make sense.)

4)   Findings: What are their most important findings? Most articles will have a number of findings--choose the one or two those most interesting to you instead of trying to describe all of them. Were their hypotheses supported? (Notice how their findings should relate directly back to the initial description of their study--each hypothesis they mention in the first part of the article should be mentioned in the findings section. Your content should do the same.) Be sure to mention what, specifically, they learned about people in society. (These findings are found near the end of the analysis and in a discussion or findings section. Again, don't get caughtup in trying to read the more technical parts - skip those and go their discussion or summary of findings.)

5)   Your Critique: What are the limitations of this study? Did they make any mistakes? Did they leave something important out? Is there a reason we should not give this study much attention? Mention what they saw as their limitations and whether or not you agree.

6)   Discussion: How does the study help us understand the topic (or not)? How is the study useful? Is it more useful for certain groups but not for others?

7)   Conclusions: Overall, what have you learned about the topic after reviewing this article?

8)   References: Cite your article. Citation format: Author(s) (Year Published) “Article Title.” Journal Title. Volume: Number (Pages). ONLY CITE THE MATERIAL YOU HAVE READ. (Use APA formatting (Links to an external site.).)