Anatomy of an Article

P152 Week 4

Three types of articles

• Reports of empirical studies

• Literature reviews/meta-analyses– Statistical reviewing procedure that uses data

from many similar studies to summarize and quantify research findings about individual topics

• Theoretical articles

Evaluating an Article

• How well do the study’s authors achieve their goal?

• Important because we rely on previous articles in preparing our own experiments

Evaluating an Article

• Must ask questions relating to:– Purpose– State hypotheses– Design– Measurement strategy– Statistical analysis– Conclusions

Evaluating an Article

Helgeson, V. S. (1994). Long-distance romantic relationships: Sex differences in adjustment and breakup. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 254-265.

Informal Discovery: Page 1

• Title: identifies main focus of study– Fun/playful? Or Formal/technical?– Does it pique our curiosity?

• Journal: where article is published– Mission which may influence how research is

presented?– Sponsored by psychological association?– Peer-reviewed journal?

Informal Discovery: Page 1

• Author: who wrote the article– University, agency or business affiliation

• Author’s notes– Funding– Acknowledging other contributors– Correspondence address– Results presented elsewhere

Group Questions: Informal Discovery

• What do you think of the title?

• Is there anything special about the journal?

• What do you know about the authors?

Abstracts

• Give overview of all main points of article– Study purpose– General research strategy– Findings– Conclusions

• Helpful in a literature search; a good abstract should give enough information to help us decide whether we want to read the article or not.

Group Question: Abstract

• From the abstract – what are the– Purpose– Research strategy/design– Findings– Conclusions

Of the study??

Introduction: What and Why

• Overview of problem addressed– Clearly Stated!

• Rationale for study developed– Review of relevant theoretical and empirical

literature

• Ends with a summary of research questions/hypotheses

Group Questions: IntroWhat and Why

• What is the general purpose of the study?

• What problem is being studied?

Introduction: Literature Review

• Build argument for why study is necessary– Origins of research question

– Do cites provide good support for study?

– Will this make a contribution to the field?

Group Questions: IntroductionLit Review

• Review the background literature and answer:– What kind of articles are described?

– Can you tell from the literature why the authors are doing the study?

– Is the study important?

Introduction: Hypotheses

• Some studies test hypotheses

• Some studies do not have hypotheses– Explicit research question/goal– Researchers did not know what to expect

• Presented at the end of the intro

• Accompanied by a rationale

Group Questions: IntroductionHypotheses

• State the research question/hypothesis

• Does the research question/hypothesis follow logically from the literature review?

• Is there a clear rationale for the hypothesis?

Method

• How the study was conducted– Major detail (replication by another)

• Sample studied– How recruited– Appropriate for answering question

Group Questions: MethodSample

• Evaluate the sample:

– Who was studied?

– How were they recruited?

Procedures

• How study was implemented

• Mention of conditions– Symbolic– Non-symbolic

• General research strategy

• Controls to eliminate threat to validity

Group Questions: MethodProcedures

• Were the procedures used appropriate?

• Would you have used this methodology? If not, what would you have done?

• Was there a control group within this study?

Procedures: Operational Defs

• Evaluate how the dependent variable is measured

• Find out how the independent variable is operationalized

Group Questions: MethodProcedures

• What was the dependent variable and how was it operationally defined?

• What was the independent variable and how was it operationally defined?

Results

• Describe statistical analysis– Evaluate – correct?

• Present tables and figures– Evaluate – correct?

• Findings clearly presented?

Group Questions: Results

• What were the overall findings?

• Were the study finding clearly presented?

• Can the results be used to answer the research question?

Discussion

• Discussion of whether hypothesis was supported by the data

• Point out limitations of study

• Place study in the “larger body of knowledge” – theoretically speaking

Group Questions: Discussion

• What do the study findings mean for theory?

• How do the study findings build upon previous research?

• Are there any limitations addressed by the authors? Any limitations you might see?

• Does this article lead to new research questions? How could these be answered?

Discussion

• General implications

• Benefits to society

• Use of results outside psychology

• As a reviewer – you must pull together your review of specific components into an overall evaluation.

Group Questions: Discussion

• What is your overall evaluation of this study?

• Would you recommend this article to someone interested in gender differences regarding romantic relationships?

Reference

• List of all publications cited in article– What articles are cited? Are these articles of

a high quality?– Are the majority of citations of the author’s

own work?

• APA style OR style specific journal requires