1 / 1100%
Research is a way to advance a eld so it is imperative to gain skills on
critiquing articles. Hopefully you’ve found that reading empirical articles is
becoming easier with the skills you have gained throughout this course.
One important thing to examine is operational denitions – how did the
researcher quantify or examine the variables of interest? For instance, my
research is in biological psychology. I enjoy measuring cortisol,
neurotransmitter levels, and physiological responses like heart rate or
EEG. Others prefer likert-based scales and surveys. But, is the survey
based on state (current) or trait (enduring) qualities? There are many
options out there, which is why it is important to carefully evaluate
articles when reading them. Target population is also important. If a study
was conducted in a di-erent culture, how might that inform your study?
.
Additionally, you may be nding that a lot of the research articles go
beyond what we’ve covered in class. There are numerous research
designs and statistical analyses, and we simply will not cover them all
(even after having PSYC 515). However – be assured you are developing
the foundation necessary to understand these studies, and with this
knowledge base and some additional inquiry, I have no doubt you can now
better critically evaluate research as we continually strive to be truth-
seekers..
Students also viewed