Critically reviewing a journal Paper Using the Rees Model

Colin Rees

How to Write Your Nursing Dissertation, First Edition. Alan Glasper and Colin Rees.© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

You will need

• A copy of the article: Ellis J and Glasper EA (2007) What impact has NHS reforms had on the provision of children’s services in England? The views of senior UK children’s nurses. Journal of Children’s and Young People’s Nursing. 1 (1) 2007.

• The Rees critiquing model• Chapter 23 on applying the model

What is critiquing

Critiquing covers three things:1. What an article has discovered about the topic.2. How that information can be applied to practice3. How far this the study was carried out to a high standard by the researcher(s).

What is the point of it?

• To enable practice to be based on sound and not weak research. This means that some knowledge of how research should be carried out will be required to ensure the accuracy of your work.

Warning!• Do not expect every research article to be

‘perfect’, as discovering ‘the truth’ or producing exact measurements of anything is very difficult.

• Research works on trying to minimise obvious shortcomings, and this varies on the type of research.

• You should not simply criticise a study, rather identify what they have done well and then acknowledge any limitations.

How is it done?

• There are a number of guides to critiquing (critique frameworks). All work in similar ways in trying to get you to consider whether a study has been carried out in a way that follows the basic principles of research, such as ‘an emphasis on accuracy’, and ‘the ability to apply the findings to other situations’ (generalisability).

ANOTHER WARNING

• The research approach – quantitative or qualitative, will affect some of the questions you ask about a study, and the principles you should expect it to follow. For example, small samples are fine for qualitative studies but not for quantitative. The ‘reliability’ of a data collection tool is important in quantitative research, but as qualitative tools are very flexible and change during the study, it is not possible to talk about reliability in such a study.

How does Sam’s critique fit the Rees model?

• Chapter 23 provides an example of how a written critique may look structured under the headings as in the Rees model. The following slides will comment these headings to give you a greater understanding of how to produce a good critique. Remember, this is just a stage in producing a review of the literature.

1. Focus

Identify the basic topic or theme of the article. Throughout his critique, Sam has taken the opportunity to express considered opinion (critical evaluation). Here, it is whether the topic is a relevant topic for nursing/practice.

2. Background

Pick out the key reason for conducting the study from both the context of the topic given by the author(s), and the key points from the literature. Comment on anything unusual about this information, or the extent to which you feel the study has been justified.

3. Aim

This is the key to the whole process, so it is crucial to get it right. Use the author(s) own words; but if the wording does not start with ‘to...’ insert it, and change the wording slightly if needed. Check the study has answered the aim/all aspects stated in the aim. Comment on its clarity, if appropriate. Remember qualitative aims are broader than quantitative. If it is an RCT, or a correlation study, state the hypothesis if present.

4. Study design

Ensure that you are clear on this, as it can be unclear, unless you are familiar with the differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches. Say if you feel this is a suitable approach to answer the aim.

5. Data collection tool

If you are writing the critique for an assignment, explain the tool, any advantages or disadvantages, and the appropriateness of the tool here. If quantitative, mention reliability and the use of a pilot/tool that has been used elsewhere and so is likely to be accurate. Use research text books as a reference for an explanations or definitions given.

6. Ethical issues

Examine if these are included in the study. What might be a particular issues in your study, and demonstrate your knowledge on the importance of ethics and how well the researchers have applied the principles here. N.B. many articles only state ‘this study was approved by an ethics committee’. We can assume if it was, they must have been satisfied with ALL ethical aspects; even those not mentioned.

7. Sample

Give sample size, sampling strategy and any noteworthy named inclusion/exclusion criteria. Frequent problem areas are small samples/low response rates and bias that could produce unreliable answers. These are often include by authors in their ‘limitations’ section.

8. Data presentation

Briefly comment on how data were analysed and presented. Did the author(s) explain the figures/tables to the reader in a way that helped understanding? N.B. Authors can often expect readers to be knowledgeable on presentation methods if they are regular and informed readers of a key journal.

9. Main findings

These are the ‘big’ aspects of the study that relate to the aim. There may just be a few of these. Comment on anything unusual about them; are they expected/unexpected?

Conclusion & Recommendations

• The recommendations should close the loop and answer the aim. Here, as in other studies, the researchers do not specifically address the aim. This is often indicated by repeating some of the words in the aim.

• The recommendations should give a clear idea of who should do what now (where do we go from here), in Sam’s article there was nothing to help us improve practice.

Readability

This is your opportunity to say how understandable you found the article to read. Did they try to ensure that the reader fully understood the researcher’s understanding of how they have interpreted key parts of the article? Take care not to criticise elements that may be unfamiliar to you, but may be taken for granted by regular readers of the journal.

Implications for practice

The purpose of most nursing research is to improve practice. This is where you use your creativity to suggest how you/others can make the connection to practice. In this article the connection is more to health policy. This may still affect the quality of care provided. Throughout try to avoid being totally negative; search for positive elements.

Final Thoughts

Your skill in critiquing research is probably one of the most important skills in producing a dissertation. One of the keys is achieving a balance between positive and less positive comments. Make sure that you can back up both sides of the argument, and make use of research texts to show it is an objective assessment based on a considered knowledge of research processes, and not a lack of understanding or knowledge.