Critical Analysis Assignment

LENGTH: 2 Pages Double Spaced

STYLE: APA Format

TURN IN: 1) Original Article (PDF preferred)

2) Media Coverage (e.g. News Clipping) (PDF preferred)

3) Assignment Paper

Instructions:

· Select an academic journal article regarding child development or developmental psychology that was given media coverage

· Academic journal articles are published in peer-reviewed academic journals

· Provide a brief summary of journal article (in your own words)

· Provide answers to the following questions within the context of the paper

· Why do you think this article was given news coverage?

· What does the media coverage explain correctly?

· Why do you think the reporter

· What are some key details that the reporter fails to mention?

· What are some things in the original paper that you wish the reporter mentioned?

· Why do you think the reporter failed to include it in his or her report?

· Please write the paper as a singular document. Do not create sections that answers each of the questions.

Rubric:

Helpful Notes:

· Start by finding a media article (e.g., news section on Google search) that highlights findings from an academic research paper.

· Ideally, the topic of the research paper will be based on something that you are interested in because it will make reading the academic research paper easier to read

· Many academic research papers will be quantitative in nature (i.e., will involve statistics).

· Results from the tables will be highlighted in the text portion if you are not familiar with statistics

· It may easier to use an academic journal article that is NOT a meta-analysis or a literature review as these papers are often a summary of the available literature.

· You can often determine if the academic journal article is a meta-analysis or a literature review by reading the title or the abstract

· The focus of this paper is understanding the most important and critical papers of an academic research paper. Please keep this in mind throughout all aspects of the assignment.

· APA formatting

· 1-inch margins, double spaced, font size 12, Times New Roman, 1-inch indents for each paragraph

· Encourages the use of active voice rather than passive voice

· First person can be used in APA formatting but is used to discuss research steps. Given this assignment does not report research that you conducted, please do NOT from using first person in this paper.

· Be specific rather than vague in descriptions and explanations. Avoid poetic language and be concise and succinct with your writing.

· Although APA format usually has major paper sections (e.g. Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, References, etc.), please do NOT separate into sections. The only formatting I want for this paper is the aforementioned stylistic formatting (e.g. 1-inch margins, active voice, specific language, etc.).

· You do NOT need a title page, running head, or major sections.

· You also do NOT need to make citations for this paper.