Obviously, a necessary but not sufficient condition for evaluating a written research report is the ability to comprehend it. But reading research critically requires the additional ability to state how a specific educational research report meets or fails to meet the expected general standards of a high quality educational research report.
The questions below summarize the expected general standards of high quality educational research. It is a goal of this course that each student learn the expected general standards for high quality educational research, and for any specific educational research report be able to answer questions such as those listed in the figure in her or his own words.
Questions to guide the evaluation and critique of research reports.
Select one educational research (use APA reference to identify the article). The article selected must be from a peer-reviewed journal. It has to use one of the quantitative methods stated in the syllabus. Please identify the article you have used in the title. The journal must be from a peer-reviewed journal.
1. Specificity of The Research Problem
• Is the research problem precisely stated?
• Is the research problem properly integrated with theory and the research literature?
• Did the author reasonably delimit the problem?
2. Relevance
• Is the research problem important or significant?
• Did the author state the assumptions made to derive the problem?
• Is this study needed (i.e., can the problem be answered from previous research)?
3. Replicability
• Are the methods or procedures thoroughly presented?
• Are the definitions of terms reasonably or operationally defined?
4. Quantification or Specification of Data Obtained
• What are the data sources, and to what extent may generalizations be drawn from them?
• Are the variables or traits precisely stated, or are the data collected specifically defined?
• Are the variables or traits valid?
• Are the variables reliably and validly measured? Are the traits established on more than one source?
5. Objectivity
• Are the research and the researcher objective or trustworthy?
• Are the design and procedures and data analysis thorough?
6. Scholarship
• Are the inferences, theories, and conclusions based on intelligent interpretations of the data?
• Are all reasonable interpretations of the data discussed?
• Are the data and conclusions discussed in relation to the research literature?
• Does the researcher indicate significant research problems needing further research?
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