Research Critique Part 1: Guidelines

Prepare a critical analysis of a qualitative study focusing on the problem statement, study purpose, research question, literature review, and theoretical framework. This can be one of the selected articles from your previous literature review or a new peer-reviewed article.

The completed analysis should be 1,000-1,250 words and should connect to your identified practice problem of interest.

Refer to “Research Critique Part 1.” Questions under each heading should be addressed as a narrative, in the structure of a formal paper.

Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Research Critique, Part 1

To write a critical appraisal that demonstrates comprehension of the research study conducted, respond to each of the questions listed under the headings below.

Do not answer the questions with a yes or no; rather, provide a rationale or include examples or content from the study to address the questions.

CRITICAL APPRAISAL GUIDELINES: QUALITATIVE STUDY

Problem Statement

How did the author establish the significance of the study? In other words, why should the reader care about this study? Look for statements about human suffering, costs of treatment, or the number of people affected by the clinical problem.

• Identify the clinical problem and research problem that led to the study. What was not known about the clinical problem that, if understood, could be used to improve health care delivery or patient outcomes? This gap in knowledge is the research problem.

Purpose and Research Questions

Identify the purpose of the study. An author may clearly state the purpose of the study or may describe the purpose as the study goals, objectives, or aims.

List research questions that the study was designed to answer. If the author does not explicitly provide the questions, attempt to infer the questions from the answers.

Were the purpose and research questions related to the problem?

Were qualitative methods appropriate to answer the research questions?

Literature Review

Did the author cite quantitative and qualitative studies relevant to the focus of the study? What other types of literature did the author include?

Are the references current? For qualitative studies, the author may have included studies older than the 5-year limit typically used for quantitative studies. Findings of older qualitative studies may be relevant to a qualitative study.

Did the author evaluate or indicate the weaknesses of the available studies?

Did the literature review include adequate information to build a logical argument?

Conceptual / Theoretical Framework

Did the author identify a specific perspective from which the study was developed? If so, what was it?

When a researcher uses the grounded theory method of qualitative inquiry, the researcher may develop a framework or diagram as part of the findings of the study. Was a framework developed from the study findings?

Reference

Burns, N., & Grove, S. (2011). Understanding Nursing Research (5th ed.). Elsevier. ISBN-13: 9781437707502