Article
Summary (1 short paragraph):

Write
a succinct summary of what the research article is about Include a statement
about what problem was being addressed and why the problem is important
Indicate what the purpose (or aim or objective) of the research study was (as
identified by the researchers)

Research
Questions/Hypothesis:

If
none are provided,state
an appropriate research question or hypothesis for this study based on the purpose
of the study

Research
Variables:

What
are the independent, dependent, & extraneous or confounding variables?

Research
Design:

Identify
the design of the study (quantitative, qualitative, descriptive,
phenomenological, randomized controlled trial, etc) Be as specific as
possible Explain what makes it that type of study (1 or 2 sentences) and/or
why it was an appropriate design for the study

Population,
Sample, and Setting:

Describe
the setting, population (target & accessible), and the sample used in the
study (include who was in the study, number of participants, etc) Identify
the sampling plan (ie convenience sample, purposive sample, etc),
recruitment strategies (how did they get people to participate) Are there
inclusion and exclusion criteria? What were the main demographics of the
study sample?(ie average age of participants, percentage of males/females,
etc)

Ethical
Issues:

Identify
and describe any measures taken to protect the participants (esp informed
consent, IRB or ethics committee approval, protecting participants’ identity,
etc)

Data
Collection Procedures:

Describe
how the researcher went about collecting the data (ie sent out
questionnaires, interviewed participants, measured blood samples, collected
data over 6 months, followed up with phone calls, or whatever)

Data
Collection Instruments:

Describe
EACH instrument used to gather data; include the name of the instrument (if
provided); the purpose (what it measures); reliability and validity (R&V)
information (if provided); level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval,
or ratio) and how a score on the instrument is derived; and number of items
on each instrument, if stated If they
don’t talk about an instrument but they report data, then describe that Or
if they describe an instrument but don’t talk about the R&V, you can just
say R&V was not addressed

Data
Analysis & Results

Identify
the statistical tests that were used in the study (name them) – both
descriptive (ie, means, standard deviations, etc) and inferential (ie,
t-test, ANOVA, etc) Describe the main findings or results of the study as
they relate to the research questions or hypotheses

Researcher’s
Discussion/Conclusions:

Describe
the researcher’s conclusions about the study What did they say were the main
study findings? According to the researcher, were the study findings generalizable?
What limitations or barriers to the study, nursing implications, and
recommendations for future research were made by the researcher(s)? Did you
note any other limitations? (Generalizability deals with threats to external
validity of the study findings; limitations or barriers to the study deal
with threats to internal and external validity of the study and findings)

Assessment
of Research Article (1-2 paragraphs):

Did
you agree with the researcher(s) about the study findings? Why or Why not?
Was there anything that you felt was not appropriate? Was the problem being
addressed made clear? Did the hypothesis or research question(s) seem to fit
with the problem? Did the study design seem to fit with the hypothesis or
research question(s)? What about the sampling plan? Did it seem effective and
appropriate? Did you note any problems with internal and external (generalizability)
validity in the study? Were the findings clinically significant? Do you think
there were any alternative reasons for the results the researcher(s) got?
Anything else?

Presentation
and Stylistic Dimensions of the Article:

Evaluate
the manner in which the findings were communicated in the research report –
areas you might consider: amount of information; writing style; anything
missing; Do the tables seem to be laid out appropriately and do they make
sense?

References

Include
a proper reference citation for the research article and any other sources
you might have cited in the paper (NOTE:
no additional sources are required, but be sure to cite sources if you
do decide to use them)