Research Application

Provide the FULL APA citation of the article. There is no set word count or page number.

Critically analyze the article using the following questions. You should explain your rationale, when necessary:

1. Introduction/Literature Review:

A. What is the statement of general problem and/or study purpose

B. Identify at least two arguments (clearly identify the propositions and conclusions that make up the arguments quote the exact statements from the article itself; do not paraphrase)

C. Is the rationale sufficient? That is, did the researcher make their case for completing the study?

D. What are the research questions (and hypotheses, if these are provided)?

E. Provide at least 3 margin questions that you had from reading this section and where you anticipate finding the answer to these questions.

2. Method

A. What is the research design of the study? Be specific.

B. How does this design respond to the research questions?

C. How might this kind of design decrease threats to validity?

D. Who are the participants?

E. How are they selected? Do you have any concerns about inclusion/exclusion criteria?

F. Do they provide adequate information regarding selection and criteria?

G. What measures are used in the initial assessment? Are they the same measures that are used for responding to the research questions?

H. Are the procedures clear?

I. Could you replicate the study? Could you complete the intervention yourself?

J. How was fidelity of intervention measured? How was reliability measured?

K. What, if any, threats to validity based on methods?

L. Did you have any remaining margin questions?

3. Results

A. What statistical analyses were used for the primary measures?

B. Were the tables and figures clear? Did they assist in your understanding of the data?

C. What were the main findings (responding to the main research questions)? You need to state the statistical measure that was used to determine the findings (e.g., An ANOVA was used to examine the… )

D. What were the secondary findings (if applicable)?

4. Discussion and Conclusions

A. Were these findings represented accurately in the discussion and conclusions sections? Please explain your response.

B. Did the researchers demonstrate how their work fits within the current literature?

C. Were the limitations exhaustive? That is, did they include all your concerns?

D. What are the researchers future directions?

E. Did you have any remaining margin questions? Did they resolve all of your questions?

For this project, the PICO question is used as a lens for the entire critique. It is the reason the article was chosen and serves as a checklist to compare the study against in every section.

PICO Question:

For preschool children with language delays, does parent-implemented Enhanced Milieu Teaching improve expressive language compared to no treatment or clinician-directed intervention?

The PICO does not need to be rewritten in every section. Instead, each part of the critique should essentially answer:

Does this study actually answer my PICO question well?

• Introduction Did the authors justify this clinical question?
• Method Did the study design properly test this question?
• Results What is the answer to the question based on the data?
• Discussion Are the conclusions appropriate and clinically meaningful?