This exercise is worth 5% of the total marks available for this module. It is one of a series of four exercises that take place through the term, the total value of which is 20% of the module marks. The remaining 80% is assessed through an unseen examination.
Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to give you more practice critically evaluating research methods for your own research and research conducted by others. Being able to critically evaluate research methods is important because you will be able to design more reliable and valid studies in the future.
Instructions
Select one peer-reviewed research article published in an academic journal that is related to the topic of your dissertation or project. After you’ve selected your article, complete the table below. When completing the table, focus on critiquing the methodological choices of the article. Some questions you could consider are: Was the data collected from an appropriate sample? Is the sample size appropriate? Were the measures appropriate? Should other measures be included instead? Did the data that was collected match the hypotheses being tested? Were the statistical tests appropriate? Were the conclusions drawn from the data appropriate?
Your answer should not exceed 500 words. You can use bullet points so long as your meaning is clear.