Research Article Critique Example

Research article critique means a careful and critical appraisal of the strengths and limitations of a piece of research, rather than hunting for and exposing mistakes (Polt and Beck 2008). A critical review is an evaluation of an academic article or essay. It makes judgment, positive or negative, about the text using various criteria.

It is an overall critical appraisal, which mainly focuses on the reliability, validity, strengths, and weakness, rather than the faults or weaknesses of the research (New South Wales University, learning Centre). It is the summarization and evaluation of the ideas and information in an article. It expresses the writer’s point of view in the light of what you already know on the subject and what is acquired from related texts.

Purpose of the essay

The aim of this assignment is to develop a solid understanding of the experiences of residents in nursing home care by critiquing a published qualitative health research. In this article, the critical thinking framework based on critical review guidelines for qualitative studies by Beck, C 2009, ‘Critiquing Qualitative Research, Aorn Journal, vol 90, issue 4, pp. 543-545 is used. The reason behind using this frame is that it provides a specific guideline and covers almost all questions of critique such as how to do a critique on the title, phenomenon, structure, research design analysis data, findings and other prospectives of the article.

An Example of a Research Article Critique

How do you write a research article critique?

TITLE:
The title is catchy and peaks the interest of the reader. Title of the study is well described and self-explanatory. Resident’s while living in a nursing home are clearly identified as the key phenomenon being investigated. The article title included o age of participants, their experiences of interpersonal relationship factors in nursing home care (Kitto, 2010, p-201). The title indicates that it is a qualitative study and title match with context of article. The objective of study is clearly stated in title.

ABSTRACT:
The abstract clearly and concisely summarised the main features of the report like background, objectives, participants, method, design, setting, results, and conclusion. Background stated that the number of those who needing care in nursing home will also increase dramatically over the period of next 20 years (Huber et al., 2009). Quality of care across developed countries mainly focus on patient safety, excellence in care and patient satisfaction (Nakrem et al., 2009)

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:
The problem statement is unequivocally and easily located in the first paragraph of the article. The researcher focus on how nursing home quality can be understood from the resident’s point of view. The problem certainly has significance for nursing because the life expectancy and number of resident will increase in next 20 years. The problem statement convinces clearly and has the ability to persuade because the study is a great understanding of interpersonal factors which are very important for improving the quality of patient nurse relationships in nursing homes.

This Statement of problem does build a cogent and persuasive argument for the new study as the consideration of interpersonal relationship factors and quality of nursing care could be different from nurses’ and residents’ perspectives. It has great significance in nursing as people who were the owners of the house are now the residents of the nursing home. So they feel their integrity is at risk in nurse patient interaction and care. They feel more dependent and sometime helpless.

So it is very important to study those aspects and find out the drawbacks and rectified them so the residents feel safer, secure, and live their life happily in the nursing home. The match between the research problem and the qualitative paradigm and tradition used in the study is good. The researcher used the phenomenological methods in order to explain the life experience of people in nursing home in regards to quality of care and their expectations.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

Nursing research questions aim at generating and assessing evidence for nursing (Hilarie, 2011, p-105). In this article, the author did not clearly state the research question. However, he did ask research questions and further divided each research question into subcategories for more understanding of the problems. The qualitative method of data collection fit the research question by using phenomenological theory, in residents with lived experience (Polit, Beck & Hungler 2001,p-214).

LITERATURE REVIEW:
The reporter adequately summarized research that had been conducted on the phenomenon of interpersonal aspects of nursing care. The author clearly stated the gaps in the knowledge, in previous study it was identified that to provide good quality of care and to understand interpersonal aspect of care is essential and residents are primary source to find out the interpersonal factor and outcomes of care, on other hand recent study provide better understanding of interpersonal factor by taking depth interviews of the residence in order to improve the residents relationship with their nurses and also in the improvement of the quality of nursing.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNINGS:
The researcher provided a conceptual definition of the key concept of interpersonal aspects of quality care. This helps the reader to understand what interpersonal aspects of nursing referred to, and it includes not only medical care but also physical and psychological care, to protect their integrity and to recognize their individual psychosocial needs. The researcher did not stated philosophical basis of this study in introduction. The author did not make any conceptual framework for this study, he just compared and contrasted the content of one research theory to another.

METHODS:

PROTECTING THE PARTICIPANT’S RIGHTS:
Approval was obtained from regional committee for medical and health research. The Ethical issues related to the research include informed consent, the identity of the researcher, the purpose and nature of the study, the right to refuse and to participate and other such as responsibilities of researcher and possible study benefits, privacy, autonomy, confidentiality, etc. these all aspects were taken into consideration by regional committee of medical and health research ethics. For data collection, confidentiality and the right to refuse and withdraw and written consent in addition to oral consent were taken from residents (Minichiello et al, 2004).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND RESEARCH TRADITION

This is a qualitative study and the author has used a descriptive and exploratory research design. A phenomenological method is used in which the idea is taken from of the individuals who have actually experienced the situation ( Poor in text referencing

The researchers used the phenomenological study to describe the life experiences of people in nursing homes in regards to the quality of care and their expectations. An adequate time was spent with participants, each interview was lasted for one hour, and author find that the long-term residents are individuals with individual background but they also have a shared meaning of experience living in nursing home.

SAMPLE AND SETTING

Participate individuals are selected to participate in qualitative research is based on there first hand experience with a culture social or phenomenon interest (poor in text referencing, see the student learning centre for help with this, Strabert, Dona, Rinaldi, Carpenta, 2011,p-28). There are no hard and fast rules about numbers, Participants were selected based on condition and on the eligible criteria completed by the team. This is the plus point for the research (Rawlinson &Annette 1999, p.859)

Initially 24 participants between the ages of 45 to 100 years were chosen from four municipal public nursing homes in Norway. But only 15 participants were chosen 9 women, 75-92 years old and 6 men 80- 96 years old. For qualitative study it could be 10 -100 but minimum 30 should be when looking for evidence or trying to achieve maximum variation (Tuckett, 2004,p-2). The inclusion criteria was set on the basis that they were mentally sound residents in the nursing home for minimum of a month or longer and had physical and mental capacity to participate.

DATA COLLECTION:
Yes, the method of gathering data is appropriate. The data was collected by in-depth interviews with the residents. To assist the residents an interview guide with open-ended questions was conducted, all interviews and probes were used. Three experts reviewed it. A narrative approach was used to encourage the resident to freely speak about their experience. The interviewer repeated and summarised during the interviews to check whether it was correct.

PROCEDURE:
The procedure used to collect and record data were adequately described and were appropriate for phenomenological study. Because resident tell there views to the researcher in interviews and bias were minimised but the author did not discussed about staff training for data collection.

ENCHANCEMENT AND RIGOR:
The rigor in qualitative research is demonstrated through researches attention to confirmation of information discovered. The goal of rigor in qualitative research is to accurately represent study participant experiences (Helen, Streubert, Dona, Rinaldi 2011,p-48)

Yes, different methods were used to enhance the trustworthiness of the data and analysis, to enhance rigor in data analysis the authors of the article were all involved in discussions about the development of analytical concepts. Researcher documented researcher procedures and decision process sufficiently to confirm that the finding is suitable and confirmable, the author himself and two other interviewers coded interview separately and compared with the coding done by main author and discussed for abstraction in categories and subgroups in meeting.

DATA ANALYSIS:
Yes data is sufficiently described, data was analysed by recording and transcribed the data by verbally, the data analytical approach was consisted of coding with categorization, and Interviewer took notes and summarized them. An electronic tool was used for mind mapping as well. To enhance the rigor of the study all authors were involved in the discussion about the development of analytical concepts (Ryan, Nichollas & Will 2009).

FINDINGS:
Finding from the qualitative studies may be a show constructive format of phenomena (Polit, Beck & Hungler 2001.p.313). The findings of this research highlight and acknowledge the importance of nurses in general and specialized care, prevention of complications and prioritizing the individual needs. In this article Findings also expressed the quality of care according to residents’ point of view to optimize and fulfill their medical, physical, and psychosocial needs whilst protecting their integrity. Findings were all expressed in the article under separate subheadings for easy review and understanding.

INTERPRETATION OF THE FINDING:
Finding is interpreted within an appropriate frame. Author focused on finding related to interpersonal factor of direct nursing care. Yes the finding interpreted and discussed within the context of previous studies.

The author compares the study with the previous study. Both studies focus on the interpersonal aspect of care so that nurses can provide better quality of care to residents the author also mention about limitation of this study nurse as representative of the health care took interview from the residents might be reluctant to criticize the nursing home quality and author did not put much efforts to understand cultural of the interviewees. The author did not address the issue of transferability of the finding due to the small sample consisting of mentally lucid residents from four nursing homes.

IMPLICATION AND RECOMMENDATION:

PRESENTATION:
The report was well written, flowed logically, and was written in enough detail for critical analysis the description of finding was rich and powerful.

RESEARCHER CREDIBILITY:
The researcher qualification enhanced confidence in the finding. Researcher was member of Norway college of nursing facility.

SUMMARY ASSESSMENT:
The study result appears trustworthy. This study provide some evidence that can be used in nursing practice in help in improving (Beck, 2009). This study provides some evidence that can be used in nursing practice to help in improving interpersonal relationships and the quality of care in nursing homes. Appear to be trustworthy but the author could take more sample/ participants in this study to make the finding more general.

CONCLUSION

Study provides a snapshot of how residential care is experienced by older person. There is a need for more innovative carring of programmes, which combine nursing homes, such as intimacy, privacy, and autonomy (Galvin, Cathy, and Roiste 2005,p-92).

Overall, this was a good qualitative article. The research used a qualitative research design to explore the experience of residents who live in the nursing home and provide evidence for the practice of healthcare to fulfill individual needs through interpersonal relationships. However, the study sample taken was small and the interview taken by one of the nurse of the nursing maybe affect the views of the resident. Does this affect the study really as many qualitative studies are like this?

References

• Beck, C 2009, ‘Critiquing Qualitative Research,’ Aorn Journal, vol. 90, no.4, pp. 543-545.
• Galvin, Cathy, Roiste and Aine 2005, Living in care: older person experience of nursing homes, Irish Journal of applied social studies, vol. 6, issue.1.
• Minichiello, V Sullivan, G Greenwood, K and Axford, R 2004, Handbook of research methods for nursing and health science, 2nd Pearson Education Australia, Australia.
• Nakrem, S, Vinsnes, A. G, Seim, A, 2011. ‘Residents experiences of interpersonal factors in nursing home care: A qualitative study, International Journal of Nursing Studies vol .48 no.11, pp. 1357-1366.
• New South Wales University Learning Centre n.d., Writing a Critical Review, viewed 21 Oct 2011.
• Polit, D.F & Beck, C.T, 2008, Nursing research: generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice, 8thedn, pp.105-138, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA.
• Polit, DF, Beck, CT & Hungler, BP 2001, Essential of nursing research methods, appraisal, and utilization, 5th edn, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA.
• Ryan-Nicholls, KD & Will, CI 2009, ‘Rigour in qualitative research: mechanisms for control’, Nurse Researcher, vol. 16, no. 3, viewed 9 September 2012.
• Taylor, B & Roberts, K 2007, Research in nursing and health care: evidence for practice, 3rd edn, Thomson, South Melbourne.
• Thomas, Sp & Pollio, HR 2002, Listening to patients: a phenomenological approach to nursing research and practice, Springer, New York.
• Vivilaki, V & Johnson, M 2008, ‘Research philosophy and Socrates: rediscovering the birth of phenomenology’, Nurse Researcher, vol. 16, no. 1, viewed 9 September 2012). Critiquing Qualitative Research Basic Questions for Critiquing Title & Introduction in Qualitative Reports

Appendix

Research Article Critique Criteria

Title

Was the title a good one, suggesting the key phenomenon and the group or community under study?

Statement of the problem

• Is the problem stated unambiguously and is it easy to identify?
• Does the problem statement build a cogent and persuasive argument for the new study?
• Does the problem have significance for nursing?
• Is there a good match between the research problem on the one hand and the paradigm, tradition, and methods on the other?

Research questions

• Are research questions explicitly stated?  If not, is their absence justified?
• Are the questions consistent with the study’s philosophical basis, underlying tradition, conceptual framework, or ideological orientation?

Literature review

• Does the report adequately summarize the existing body of knowledge related to the problem or phenomenon of interest?
• Does the literature review provide a solid basis for the new study?

Conceptual underpinnings

• Are key concepts adequately defined conceptually?
• Is the philosophical basis, underlying tradition,
• conceptual framework, or ideological orientation
• made explicit and is it appropriate for the problem?

Basic Questions for Critiquing Results in Qualitative Reports

Data analysis

• Were the data management (e.g., coding) and data analysis methods sufficiently described?
• Was the data analysis strategy compatible with the research tradition and with the nature and type of data gathered?
• Did the analysis yield an appropriate “product” (e.g., a theory, taxonomy, thematic pattern, etc.)?
• Did the analytic procedures suggest the possibility of biases?

Findings

• Were the findings effectively summarized, with good use of excerpts and supporting arguments?
• Do the temes adequately capture the meaning of the data?
• Does it appear that the research satisfactorily conceptualized the themes or patterns in the data?
• Did the analysis yield an insightful, provocative, and meaningful picture of the phenomenon under investigation?

Theoretical integration

• Are the themes or patterns logically connected to each other to form a convincing and integrated whole?
• Were the figures, maps, or models used effectively to summarize conceptualizations?
• If a conceptual framework or ideological orientation guided the study, are the themes or patterns linked to it in a cogent manner?

Basic Questions for Critiquing Discussion in Qualitative Reports

Discussion

Interpretation of the findings

• Are the findings interpreted within an appropriate frame of reference?
• Are major findings interpreted and discussed within the context of prior studies?
• Are the interpretations consistent with the study’s limitations?
• Does the report address the issue of the transferability of the findings?

Implications and recommendations

Do the researchers discuss the implications of the study for clinical practice or further inquiry, and are those implications reasonable and complete?

Basic Questions for Critiquing Methods in Qualitative Reports

Methods

Protection of participants’ rights

• Were appropriate procedures used to safeguard the rights of study participants?
• Was the study subject to external review?
• Was the study designed to minimize risks and maximize benefits to participants?
• Research design and research tradition
  
• Is the identified research tradition (if any) congruent with the methods used to collect and analyze data?
• Was an adequate amount of time spent in the field or with study participants?
• Did the design unfold in the field, giving researchers opportunities to capitalize on early understandings?
• Was there evidence of reflexivity in the design?
• Was there an adequate number of contacts with study participants?

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