2 Topics Excel sheets

Navigating Research Articles

When summarizing research articles, students should identify the following elements that provide the reader with a high-level

understanding of the quality of research undergone in an article. This can help students decide if a research article is right for their

work.

Required Element Common Places to Look Common Indicator Words

Who (conducted the research)? - Top of an article, near the title

Why (was the study conducted

[purpose])?

- Abstract

- Introduction

- the purpose of the study…

- …in order to…

- …to understand…

- …to explore…

When (was data collected)? - Abstract

- Methodology/Methods

- Data Collection

Not to be confused with the

publication year.

*** If secondary research was

conducted, look for the

researchers’ search parameters.

Did they only look at data within

a certain timeframe? ***

Where (was data collected)? - Abstract

- Introduction

- Methodology/Methods

- Data Collection

Not to be confused with the

location of the publishing journal.

*** If secondary research was

conducted, look for the

researchers’ search parameters.

Did they only look at data from a

specific location? ***

How (data was collected [research

methodology + description)?

Brief mention may be found…

- Abstract

- Introduction

For description see…

- Methodology/Methods

- Data Collection

*** Think of details about

participants – gender, age,

demographic. Was a survey used?

Were interviews done? Face-to-

face? Over the phone? Look for

tables with questions. ***

What (was found [findings/results])? Brief mention may be found…

- Abstract

For summary see…

- Findings

- Discussion

- Conclusion

- …it was found…

- …results indicate…

- …findings suggest…

Limitations (what did the researchers

identify as limitation [weakness] of the

study?)

- Methods

- Limitation

- Discussion

- Conclusion

…limitations to the study were…

…acknowledged the following

limitations to the study…

…a limitation to the study was…

Types of Methodology/Research Design Common Indicator Words/Themes to Look For

PRIMARY Research Methodologies/Designs

Qualitative - Participants/description of participants

- Interviews

- Questionnaire/open-ended

- Survey/open-ended

- Focus groups

- Seeing exact wording from participants’ responses

Quantitative - Participants/description of participants

- Survey/close-ended

- Questionnaire/close-ended

- Multiple Choice Survey

- Seeing percentages or numerical figures

- Likert scale

Mixed-Method This one is a combination of the above two. It is often conducted in

phases.

- First phase/stage/step (this is typically qualitative in nature)

- Second phase/stage/step (this is typically quantitative in nature)

- Coding words to quantify the frequency of mentions among participants

(Nvivo or other systems can do this, so researchers may make mention of a

program that helped them code)

- Likert Scale

SECONDARY Research Methodologies/Designs

Literature Review Literature reviews will not have their own participants to gather data

from; they use existing information from varying databases.

- Systematic literature review

- Names of databases included

- Keywords researchers used included

- Number of articles/studies used is indicated

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY Research

Methodologies/Designs

Meta-Analysis - Can include primary/secondary but uses significant statistical analysis to

identify trends among many similar types of studies

- Often studies trends over a period of time