Reading and Evaluating Research

Almost any research activity that you participate in involves the reading of
research articles that appear in journals and textbooks. In fact, one of the most
common faults of beginning researchers is not being sufficiently familiar with the
wealth of research reports in their specific area of interest. It is indeed rare to find
a research topic where nothing or nothing related has been done. You may not
be able to find something that is exactly on the topic you wish to pursue (such as
changes in adolescent behavior in Alaskan children who live in the outback), but
there is plenty of information on adolescent behavior and plenty on children who
live in Alaska. Part of your job as a good education/scientist is to read and
evaluate research that has been done in various disciplines on an educational
topic.

What Does a Research Article Look Like?

The only way to gain expertise in understanding the results of research studies is
to read and practice understanding what they mean. Begin with one of the
journals in your own area. Don't know of any? Then do one of two things.

● Visit your librarian and ask about the educational area in which you are
interest and ask the question, “What is the best research journal in my
area?”
● Visit the library and look through the index of periodicals. You are bound to
find tens if not hundreds of journals.
 For example, for those of you interested in education and psychology and
related areas, here is a sample of 10 research journals that are in our library

● American Educational Research Journal

● American Psychologist
● Educational Researcher
● Educational and Psychological Measurement
● Harvard Educational Review
● Journal of Educational Research
● Journal of Educational Psychology
● Journal of Educational Measurement
● Phi Delta Kappan
● Review of Educational Research

Here are 10 more that focus primarily on psychology:

● Child Development
● Cognition
● Human Development
● Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
● Journal of Experimental Psychology
● Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
● Journal of School Psychology
● Perceptual and Motor Skills
● Psychological Bulletin
● Sex Roles

Criteria for Judging a Research Study

Judging anyone else's work is never an easy task. A good place to start might be
the following checklist organized to help you focus on the most important
characteristics of any journal article. These eight areas can give you a good start
in better understanding the general format of such a report and how well the
author(s) communicated to you what they did, why they did it, how they did it,
and what it all means.
1. The Review of Previous Research. How closely is the literature cited in the study
related to previous literature? Is the review recent? Are there any seminal or
outstanding references you know of that were left out?
2. The Problem and Purpose. Can you understand the statement of the problem? Is
the purpose of the study clearly stated? Does the purpose seem to be tied to the
literature that is reviewed? Is the objective of the study clearly stated? Is there a
conceptual rationale to which the hypotheses are grounded? Is there a rationale
for why the study is an important one to do?
3. The Hypothesis. Are the research hypotheses clearly stated? Are the research
hypotheses explicitly stated? Do the hypotheses state a clear association
between variables? Are the hypotheses grounded in theory or in a review and
presentation of relevant literature? Are the hypotheses testable?
4. The Method. Are both the independent and dependent variables clearly defined?
Are the definition and description of the variables complete? Is it clear how the
study was conducted?
5. The Sample. Was the sample selected in such a way that you think it is
representative of the population? Is it clear where the sample comes from and
how it was selected? How similar are the participants in the study to those that
have been used in similar studies?
6. Results and Discussion. Does the author relate the results to the review of
literature? Are the results related to the hypothesis? Is the discussion of the
results consistent with the results? Does the discussion provide closure to the
initial hypothesis that the author presents?
7. References. Is the list of references current? Are they consistent in their format
Are the references complete? Does the list of references reflect some of the most
important reference sources in the field?
8. General Comments About the Report. Is it clearly written and understandable? Is
the language biased? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?
What are the primary implications of the research? What would you do to
improve the research?
 Step 1: Click the “Library” link under the “Academics” tab on the Hope College home page.

“Academics” tab

“Library” Link

Step 2: Click the “Databases” link under the “Library Search” tab.

“Library search”
tab

“Databases”
Link
 Step 3: Click “Education” on the “Subjects” pull down menu.

“Subjects”
pull down
menu

“Education”

Step 4: Click the letter “E” in the alphabet across the page (Narrow search).

Letter “E” in
alphabet
across the
page.