Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles

Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles

(Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles)

Homework For Wendy Lewis Only

Qualitative Study Evaluation

Locate an article from the peer-reviewed, scholarly journals in your field using one of the databases available in the Capella Library. This article should be no more than five years old and report on an empirical qualitative study. The article may be related to the topic you have selected for your final course paper. Use the study activities and the annotated Qualitative Study Evaluation Template to evaluate the study in your journal article. In your paper, demonstrate that you understand the important elements of the article:

•The research problem.

•Literature review.

•Purpose statement.

•Research design.

•Research questions.

•Data collection plan.

•Data analysis and interpretation plan.  Include a statement about how you might use this study to inform your current or future work as a counselor. Describe at least one ethical and one culturally relevant concern to the study.

Written Requirements

•Length of paper: 4–6 pages.

•Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point

This is the template, please read carefully

Evaluation of a Qualitative Study First and Last Name  Capella University

Evaluation of a Qualitative Study For this assignment you will locate an article from the peer-reviewed scholarly journals in your field using one of the databases available in the Capella University Library.  This assignment should be between 4 and 6 pages in length, double-spaced using 12-point Times New Roman font, not counting the title page and reference section.

You will notice the running head contains the words “evaluation of a quantitative study” and it is presented in all capitals. Also, notice that the words “running head” appear only on the first page and just the running head itself appears on subsequent pages. Next, notice that the title on the second page above is centered and capitalized but it is not in bold. This follows the example on page 42 of the APA Manual and also a second example found on page 54.  Below you will notice that headings have been provided for this assignment. They follow the protocols for formatting level one and two headings found on page 62 and the example presented on page 58 of the APA Manual.  It is sound practice to consult the APA Manual for formatting guidance.

In the section immediately under the title, you are to provide a brief introduction to your assignment; however, you should not create a heading that states “Introduction.” You should present your introduction without a heading in order to comply with the guidance offered on page 63 of the APA Manual. Your introduction should tell the reader what the paper is about, such as what study is being evaluated and how your evaluation will proceed.  A single brief paragraph is all that is required. You can find more information about how to develop an introduction at the Capella Writing Center. Evaluation of the Research Problem   In most cases the research problem appears early on in a research report.  However, it is not always set off in its own section with a clear heading identifying it.  You may have to do a bit of detective work to locate the description of the research problem.

(Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles)

In your own words, without using direct quotes, summarize the research problem. Evaluating the Significance of the Problem Address the following questions.

Does the problem statement indicate a counseling issue to study?  You will have to make a judgment call as to whether or not the research article addresses a counseling issue and explain why or why not you have taken this position.   Has the author provided evidence that this issue is important? Briefly describe the evidence presented in the discussion of the research problem that demonstrates this is an important issue deserving of being researched.  Summarize in your own words, not direct quotes, the evidence presented and explain your own view of whether or not this is an important issue. Evaluation of the Literature Review   Sometimes the literature review is nicely organized and set off in its own section with thoughtful headings.  In other instances, comments on the literature associated with the research topic are scattered throughout the research report.

Develop your evaluation of the literature review portion of the article. Points to think about in your evaluation are how well the author(s) tell the story of the topic by synthesizing the literature they have reviewed, and what themes are present in the literature review.  Another point to consider is whether it appears that the author(s) conducted an unbiased review of the literature, presenting more than one possible point of view. Evaluation of Research Purpose Statement and Questions Qualitative is a broad approach to research, consisting of many specific research designs.  Examples are: grounded theory, case study, narrative, phenomenological, and ethnographic.  Each research design has been developed to address certain kinds of research questions. Researchers should explicitly state the name of their chosen research design, but sometimes they do not.

Likewise, sometimes authors state their purpose statement and research questions very clearly and sometimes they do not.  Use your growing knowledge to find these elements in the article you are evaluating.   Formal hypotheses are devices that are used for statistical analyses, so they will probably not appear in qualitative studies. Research Design Name the research design used and briefly, in your own words, describe how this design is going to address what the researchers want to know.  For example, a phenomenological design will explore the lived subjective experience of a group of people who share an experience in common. Research Purpose Statement The research purpose statement declares the intent of the study.

An example is: The purpose of the study is to use phenomenological research to explore the lived experience of intentionally childfree Hispanic women.

Identify the research purpose statement, and offer your thoughtful opinion on how the author(s) presented their purpose.  If you found the purpose statement lacking, be specific as to why.  Research Questions Research questions may be stated as questions or declarative statements.  They have a specific focus.  An example is:  what is the lived experience of intentionally and permanently childfree Hispanic women? Sometimes the research questions are clearly identified in a research report, other times you have to look for them, and sometimes they are not presented at all.  Examine your article and list the research questions if they are presented.

(Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles)

Offer your opinion on how well the research question was developed.  There may be more than one research question.

Evaluation of Data Collection Plan   In your own words, without using direct quotes, describe how participants were selected for this study.

Identify the type of sampling strategy that was used in this research study.  It will probably be explicitly stated in the article, using terms such as convenience, purposeful or snowball.

Explain why you have taken this position (other than, it says so in the article).  Offer your opinion of how the selection of participants could be improved in order to produce a stronger study.  Go beyond simply saying the sample could be larger, which would not demonstrate your growing knowledge of the purpose of specific sampling strategies.  Remember, the purpose of sampling is different for qualitative studies than it is for quantitative studies.  In qualitative studies, the goal is not to be able to generalize findings from the sample to the population.  Selection of Participants In your own words without using direct quotes, describe how participants were selected for this study.

Offer your assessment of what type of sampling was used in this research report. Offer your opinion of how the selection of participants could be improved in order to produce a stronger study. Gaining Permission Qualitative research is usually more intrusive than quantitative research because qualitative researchers typically spend more time at the research site and engage with the participants more directly than quantitative researchers. As a result, qualitative researchers have to be more sensitive and thoughtfully respect individual participants and research sites. Briefly summarize how the researchers gained permission to enter the research site and also how they obtained informed consent from the research participants to gather data. Offer an evaluation of whether or not the researchers gained permission according to ethical standards.  If this is not described in the research report, offer a brief explanation of how you would have gained permission and consent if you were conducting the research project.

Determining the Data to Collect In your own words, without using direct quotes, briefly describe the data that was collected in order to fulfill the study’s purpose and answer the research questions. The primary forms of data in qualitative research are observations, interviews and questionnaires, documents, and audiovisual materials. Which of these forms of data were collected? Were any other forms of data collected? Offer an evaluation of the appropriateness of the data that was collected in order for meeting the study’s goals. Recording Data Data recording protocols are usually forms designed by qualitative researchers to record information during interviews and observations. Did the researcher(s) describe the protocols they used?  If so, what were they? Offer an evaluation of the effectiveness of these protocols. If they are not described, what protocols would you recommend for this study?

Evaluation of Data Analysis and Interpretation Plan   In order to develop this section you may refer to the sections of the course text which address data analysis and interpretation for specific qualitative research designs.  Most of the data collected by qualitative researchers involves transcripts of interviews and field notes.  Some kind of coding of the data takes place.

There are many specific procedures for coding and analyzing the data.  Two specific strategies are thematic analysis and the constant comparative method. Preparing and Organizing Data for Analysis In your own words, briefly describe how the researcher(s) prepared and organized their data for analysis. Offer an evaluation of the effectiveness of this process. If this is not described in the research report, explain how you would have done it.

(Evaluating Qualitative Research Articles)

Exploring and Coding the Data In your own words, briefly describe how the researcher(s) explored and coded the data. Offer an evaluation of the effectiveness of this process. If this is not described in the research report, explain how you would have done it.

Using Codes to Build Description and Themes In your own words, briefly describe how the researcher(s) built description and themes. Offer an evaluation of the effectiveness of the process. If this is not described in the research report, explain how you would have done it. Representing and Reporting Findings Typically qualitative findings are presented in tables, figures and narrative. In your own words, briefly describe how the researcher(s) reported their findings. Offer your opinion of how effectively you feel their findings were presented and offer suggestions for improvement.  Interpreting Findings Qualitative researchers must step back and form larger meanings about the phenomenon under investigation based on their personal views, comparisons with past studies described in the literature, or both. Offer an evaluation of the meaningfulness of the interpretation provided in the research report.

Briefly summarize the limitations of the study pointed out by its author(s). If no limitations are offered, present what you consider to be its limitations. Validating the Accuracy of the Findings. Typically, qualitative researchers rely on three techniques to validate their findings: triangulation, member checking, and external auditing. Briefly summarize how the researchers validated their findings. Offer an evaluation of the effectiveness of the process. If they do not describe how this was done, explain how you would have validated the findings.

Evaluation of Ethical and Culturally Relevant Strategies Qualitative research typically involves entering the research site for an extended period of time, and extensively interacting with participants. Interviews may involve collecting in-depth and highly personal information. In your opinion, how well did the researcher(s) address ethical issues?   If the research report does not provide this information, what steps would you have taken if you were doing the research? Conclusion Offer your overall assessment of the quality of the research report.   Explain how you could use the information in the research report to inform your own work in the counseling profession.