empirical literature

empirical literature

Description: This assignment requires you to critique the piece of published empirical literature you chose in week three.  This article must be an original research study which focuses on culture and development.

Purpose: Since peer-reviewed empirical research is the backbone of psychology, students must become familiar with how to evaluate such research, so that they can consume and disseminate the research appropriately. This assignment will allow you to practice critiquing empirical research.

Details:

1. Select a recent empirical article published in the field of psychology.  Be sure article focuses on some aspect of culture and development.
2. Read the article thoroughly, paying close attention to research questions and/or hypotheses, the method, results, and interpretations of the author.
3. Write the critique (see format below).
4. While I will not proofread papers, excessive grammatical, sentence structure and APA formatting errors will result in a deduction of points. Using your own words is also expected.  You may not use, copy or paste anything from any source.  This includes the article you choose.  To do any of the above will result in a zero for the assignment and no possibility of making up the work.

Format:

1. Include a title page, abstract, references page, and 4 pages of critique.
2. Use Times New Roman 12-point font, double spacing, and 1” margins.
3. Begin with a short introductory paragraph that summarizes the purpose of the research, including the research questions/hypotheses. In 2–3 sentences, explain the overall method, results, and conclusions.
4. Next, provide your critique of the article, noting strengths and weaknesses in the following areas:
   1. Research questions/hypotheses
   2. Research methodology including design, measures (think about different types of validity, reliability), participants (think about generalizability), procedures, ethics, etc.
   3. Results including analyses, clarity of findings, tables/graphs/figures.
   4. Discussion including whether the results validate the author’s conclusions/interpretations/recommendations, the major limitations, and what other alternative explanations for the findings might exist.
5. End with a conclusion that includes your judgment on the adequacy of the research, given the preceding critique.
6. Avoid first and second person pronouns, and be sure to use past tense when describing completed research.