RESEARCH MATRIX

Research Matrix

Reviewing and Evaluating a Research Article

Introduction

Reading a research article is as much an art and science as writing one. This paper will touch on many aspects of the skill of critical reading and will also present a research matrix of three different articles (for research matrix see appendix A, B and C). Learning to read about research is so intimately linked with learning to write about it that to us the two seem inseparable. Effective reading and writing are both reflections of comparable critical thinking skills (e.g., Squire, 1983). Both also involve communication, in one case of the “transmitter” variety and, in the other, the “receiver” variety. The principles of effective transmission and effective receiving are mirror images of one another. To be a good transmitter of information, it is key for a reviewer to imagine him or her in the role of receiver; to be an effective receiver, it is key to imagine what the author is trying to transmit. It provides an overall framework for understanding the research process that will prove helpful in reviewing and critiquing others' research.

The central mission in this study is to describe a set of tools to use in reading, reviewing, and evaluating research. Some of these tools are more like delicate instruments than like spades and drills. It takes a great deal of experience and a deep appreciation of research to use the delicate instruments well. For instance, the tools needed to dissect a research design and to consider the various statistical approaches a researcher might use are something that even experienced researchers are continually learning about. Learning how to select and use proper statistical procedures and methods is a moving target with new approaches and techniques being developed. There is even a relatively new journal, Psychological Methods, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), devoted to these advances. Because improvements occur often and trends and strategies grow and change, even experienced researchers must stay alert and change as well.

Purpose and Audience

The crucial starting point actually occurs before a person begins to read one word of an article. Reviewers are headed for greater efficiency and greater effectiveness if they ask them a couple questions: (a) What is the purpose in reading the article? (b) What is the audience for the assessment I will make? Sometimes people read psychology articles for the pure pleasure of it. More often, reviewer will have some purpose in mind, and it will involve informing someone about the research or communicating the evaluation of it.

The purpose will range from informal to formal and will also depend on whether reviewers are reading just one study or surveying a literature (see Table 4.1). For a class assignment, reviewers may be asked to describe a study, or set of studies, from beginning to end. Reviewers might also be expected to offer a brief evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the research. Reviewers' task is to find reviewers way around the research article, to gain a general ...