Article Critique Instructions

Choosing an Article:

For this assignment, you will choose a research article related to an area related to child development and write a paper analyzing the article. The article that you choose must be original research, meaning it should have:

• An abstract

• An introduction (with review of pertinent literature)

• A methods section

• A results section

• A discussion section

After selecting an article, you must critically read the entire article (possibly more than once). In this context, “critical” does not mean to criticize in a negative manner; instead, it means to evaluate or judge the ideas, information, and opinions of a text based on academic standards. You should attempt to understand the topic that you choose in relation to the theories, approaches, and frameworks established in this course, which may require you to read other related texts.

Writing a Critique:

The body of your paper (3–4 pages) should contain a critical summary and a personal reflection. In the critical summary, you must include the purpose of the study, the study’s hypothesis, the type of research performed, a description of the participants, an explanation of how the research was performed, and the results of the research. As you write your critique, be sure to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the article’s content and structure. Remember, analysis requires you to separate the content and concepts of a text into the main components, and then examine how these components interrelate, connect, and influence each other. In your personal reflection, you should address the following questions: Is the article beneficial to the discipline? Would you recommend it to others? Did the authors achieve their purpose? Was it well written and understandable (structure)? Additionally, your paper should have a title page (1 page) and a reference page (1 page) that cites the article you critiqued. All sections of this paper should adhere to the proper APA format.

Technical writing tips:

• Keep direct quotations to a minimum (this keeps the format simple and forces the writer to think and analyze).

• Use formal language—no contractions or informal terms (“a lot,” “thing,” “hyper”).
• Use past tense to describe all research findings—the events have already happened.
• Match verbs with nouns and pronouns.
• Edit carefully for punctuation and grammatical constructions. Christians must be articulate in order to be influential and persuasive.