Evaluating Research Assignment: Critique of Quantitative and Qualitative Nursing Research Articles

Evaluating Research Module 100%

Weighting of Marks:

100% Continuous Assessment: Critique of 2 research articles

Guidelines for Continuous Assessment: Critique of 2 research articles

An electronic copy of your assignment must be submitted into the Evaluating Research module in Moodle. Details of how to use Turnitin are also on this platform. Please email the articles you have reviewed to the lecturer who facilitated your journal club.

Please be aware of the college policies on submission criteria and plagiarism.

You will be required to tick a box in turnitin declaring that your submission is your own work.

Critique of 2 Research Article Guidelines: 100%

Critiquing 2 research articles provides an opportunity for you to practice summarising and evaluating the research articles you may use in your research proposal in stage 4 of your course. The research articles you use for this assignment should be nursing and discipline specific.

You are required to identify 2 discipline specific research articles on a chosen topic. The chosen research articles should include 1 quantitative and 1 qualitative (not mixed methods).

As the assignment is 2000 words, each critique should be approximately 1000 words. The articles chosen should reflect contemporary primary research articles from the last five years. The assignment requires you to critique the research process in each article and evaluate it’s potential contribution to your research proposal focus. The purpose of the critique is to inform the person reading it of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Structure of the Critique:

Following an initial statement of the overall focus of the critiques e.g. potential research problem/question in 4th year, each element of the steps below should be commented on for each article:

• The citation/reference for the article
• A discussion about the strengths/weaknesses of the following elements of the research process using appropriate references:
  • Literature review
  • Research question
  • Research design
  • Sample
  • Sampling design
  • Data collection method
  • Validity, reliability (quantitative) rigour (qualitative)
  • Data analysis
  • Ethical considerations
  • Findings
  • Discussion
  • Your conclusion on the value of the article findings for professional practice

Suggested Reading

• Aveyard, H., Farquhar, M. and preston, N. (2022) How to read and critique research: A guide for nursing and healthcare students. London: Sage Publication
• Ellis, P (2022) Understanding Research for Nursing Students. (5th Ed) London: Learning Matters
• Gray, D.E. (2022) Doing Research in the Real World (3rd ed) London: Sage Publications.
• Kumar, R. (2018) Research Methodology A Step-by- Step Guide for Beginners (4th ed) London: Sage Publications.
• LoBiondo-Wood, G. & Haber, J. (2021) Nursing research. Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (10th ed) Missouri: Mosby and imprint of Elsevier Inc.
• Parahoo, K (2014) Nursing research. Principles, process and issues (3rd ed) London: Palgrave Mac Millan.
• Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2020). Essentials of nursing research. Appraising evidence for nursing practice (9th ed) London: Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
• Polit, D.F. & Beck, C.T. (2024). Nursing research. Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. London: Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer. (on order with the library)
• Roche, D and Bennett, C.L. (2024) Notes on…. Nursing Research. Wiley-Blackwell