Picture yourself sitting down to read the latest issue of your favourite journal. Are you prepared? Do you know what to look for? Will you identify crucial defects in methodology, or will they slip by you? Having the background and training to critique research intelligently is imperative to appraise the value of the articles. This volume provides methods for reviewing research from any area in the social sciences. Part I is a presentation of those research principles that must be known to evaluate research. Chapter topics include research questions and hypotheses, population samples, controls and experimental design, data analysis, conclusions and ethics. Part II provides a series of brief and realistic, but fictional, journal articles that have flaws ranging from nearly blatant to extremely subtle. Each article is accompanied by commentary.

Table of Contents

Critical Reading; Research Questions and Hypotheses; Research Strategies and Variables; The Sample; Confounding Variables and Their Control; Research Designs and Threats to Internal Validity; Criteria and Criteria Measures; Data Analysis, Discussion, and Conclusions; Research Ethics.