Research Essay - Critical evaluation

PICO(T)

Complete this table

What is the problem/population?

What is the intervention?

What is the Comparator?

What is the primary outcome?

What are the secondary outcome/s?

What was the Length of Time of the intervention?

Introduction (200 words)

Model for critique

Identify other models that can be used for research critique and appraisal.

Journal

Present an overview of this journal e.g. Briefly determine if it is a highly regarded journal by impact factor, ranking or ERA ranking. In what country is the journal published? How will this information about the journal affect your decision when considering using this research in practice?

Authors

Are there any authors who are experts in the field? How can you tell? Identify the institution where the research was conducted. How will this information about the authors affect your decision when considering using this research in practice?

Title and Abstract (100 words)

a. Is the title of the research paper congruent with the text?

b. Were the aims and/or objectives stated? What are they?

c. Did the abstract contain information about the stages of the research process (e.g., aims, hypothesis, research design, sample, instruments and findings)? Explain these.

Structuring the study (300 words)

a. Is the motivation for the study demonstrated through the literature review? Provide a summary of the Background/literature review.

b. Is the literature cited current, relevant and comprehensive? Are the references recent?

c. What is the recognised gap in the reviewed literature?

d. How was the investigation carried out?

e. Is the hypothesis stated?

f. If so, which hypothesis is stated: the scientific hypothesis or the null hypothesis?

g. Does the hypothesis indicate that the researcher is interested in testing for differences between groups or in testing for relationships?

The sample (150 words)

a. Is the sample described?

b. How was the sample size determined?

Data collection (300 words)

a. How were the data collected (questionnaires or other data collection tools)?

b. Who collected the data?

c. Are the data adequately described?

d. What is the origin of the measurement instruments?

e. Are the instruments adequately described?

f. Were the data collection instruments valid or validated?

g. Was the reliability of the measurement instruments assessed or reported?

h. Were ethical issues discussed?

Data analysis (300 words)

(See chapter on Making Sense of Statistical Results in the eText)

a. Was the follow-up complete enough to make the results credible?

b. Was the assessment “blind” or masked to avoid performance bias?

c. Are the results statistically or clinically significant?

d. Were the statistics primarily descriptive, correlational or inferential?

e. Identify the outcome of each statistical analysis.

f. Explain the meaning of each outcome analysed.

Findings (300 words)

a. Were the findings expected?

b. Is there enough information present to judge the results?

c. Are the results clearly and completely stated?

d. Summarise the researcher’s report of the findings.

e. Identify any limitations in the study.

f. Were suggestions for further research made?

g. Did the researcher mention the implications of the study for healthcare?

h. Was there sufficient information in the report to permit replication of the study?

Conclusion (150 words)

a. What did the authors conclude was their most important finding and what is the relevance of that finding?

Relevance to nursing practice (500 words)

Critically evaluate, with reference to a range of recent, scholarly literature, how this research is relevant to the clinical nursing setting using the principles of evidence based practice.

These include:

· Patient values

· Clinical expertise

· Available evidence

References