Chapter 7Chapter 7

Reading and Evaluating Reading and Evaluating Research ReportsResearch Reports

Disclosure of Research FindingsDisclosure of Research Findings

Culmination of research process is the public disclosure of results– Article in professional journal– Presentation at a conference– Contractual research report– Thesis or dissertation

Typical Contents of Research ReportTypical Contents of Research Report

Preliminary informationIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionReferencesAppendix (if appropriate)

Preliminary InformationPreliminary Information

Title– Length should be 15 words or less

Author informationAcknowledgmentsAbstract– May be as short as 150 to 200 words– Succinct summary of research study– Not required by all journals

Introduction SectionIntroduction Section

Typically contains 2 primary elements– Background information

Acquaints reader with foundation and rationale for conducting study

– Statement of problemMay also include the research hypothesis, although less common today

Helps the reader understand why the study was conducted

Methods SectionMethods Section

Usually contains information about– Research participants– Instrumentation– Procedures

Data collection proceduresExperimental treatmentsData analysis procedures

Methodology and procedures are usually described in detail

Results SectionResults Section

That section of a research report in which the researcher reports the results of the data collection efforts as well as the outcomes of the data analysisUsually includes consideration information from the various statistical techniques– Indicate whether H0 was rejected or not

Normally would not include discussion or interpretation of results

Discussion SectionDiscussion Section

That section of a research report that contains an explanation of the resultsInterpretation of the findings, culminating with the conclusions– Conclusions should relate back to research

problem

Provides implications for professional practice and recommendations for future research

Functions of Discussion Section*Functions of Discussion Section*

Summarize the resultsInterpret the resultsOffer conclusionsTheorizeProvide recommendationsSuggest future research

*Adapted from Tuckman (1999)

References & AppendixReferences & Appendix

Listing of all books, articles, or other sources cited by the authorFormat varies according to specific journalAstute readers should carefully peruse the list of referencesAppendices are rare in published articles– Questionnaires– Tabular information– Special materials or illustrations

Critiquing a Research ArticleCritiquing a Research Article

Astute readers should be able to critically read research reports and make informed judgments about the quality of the researchPublished articles vary considerably in quality– Referred journals– Non-referred journals

Criteria for Critiquing an ArticleCriteria for Critiquing an Article

Because of the wide variety of types of research projects, there is not a universally accepted list of criteriaGuidelines are similar to those one would follow for developing a research article Consult textbook Examples 7.9 and 7.10 for checklist for evaluating research article