What is the research question/hypothesis? If there are several hypotheses, pick the one that is of most interest to you.

Learning Goal: I’m working on a sociology question and need guidance to help me learn.

assignements informationAssignment #3 Information

Course Objective 2, 4, 7; Module Objective 2, 3

For this assignment, we are staying with Step 3 in the Evidence-Based Practice process. This time, we are

looking at the Methods section of the articles. The Methods section is probably one of the most important

sections as it gives you all the information about what was done in the study. The Methods section is where

you see information that helps you to assess whether the studies were put together well enough that you want

to trust their results.

I am going to bet that this is also a section you might not have paid a lot of attention to in past assignments. It

has a lot of research language but is a critical piece of any study. In this assignment, we will take a closer

look at research questions, hypotheses, variables, ethics, measurement, design, methodology, sampling, and

diversity. Take note: sometimes research questions and hypotheses are seen in the Introduction section (right

before the Methods begins), but we are going to consider them part of the Methods section.

Assignment #3 Instructions

Page limit – 4 pages MAXIMUM, excludes Cover Page, Reference Page, and Part I information

This assignment has two parts: Part 1 – the article component identification and Part 2 – the written portion.

You will complete Part 1 for each of your articles – you will have two Part 1 documents to submit( one for

each article.) Part 1 is designed to assist you in identifying the key concepts in the Methods section and

assisting you in your analysis of these concepts. Part 1 has a quantitative and a qualitative section – complete

the section that is appropriate for your article. You may need to make edits to this document if you have two

quantitative or two qualitative articles. See Part 1 for more information. If you are unsure of which section to

use, be sure to leave time to ask your instructor. Using the incorrect section will affect your understanding of

the concepts as well as your grade.

For Part 2, the written portion, it should be written as an APA style paper. Please refer back to the APA

handout for examples on how to format proper headings, formatting in-text citations, and other rules of APA.

Headers are required for this assignment; please be sure to use appropriate level headings and keep them

short and descriptive of the information that will follow. Each section of the assignment should have the

appropriate level heading attached.

Part 2:

For each article, address the following points:

• Name of Article:
• Summary:

o Provide an overview of the Methods section for the article. Include information that would

paint a picture of what was done – pretend I asked you to quickly describe what was done in

a study and write that information here. Use your Part 1 responses as a guide.

• Critique:

o What did the authors of the articles do especially well with the Methods section? Provide

examples from the article.

o What do you wish they had discussed that they did not (i.e., what changes you would

recommend)?

• Conclusions:

o Overall, what is your assessment of the strength of the article as it pertains to the Methods

section? How did you come to this conclusion?

o What do you see as the practical relevance of the information learned?

Comparison of the Articles

• In comparing the two articles, which do you believe has the stronger Methods section? Why

Assignment #3 – Part 1: Identify the Components

Directions: Delete the section that does not apply to this article & copy the section that does apply. For instance, if both of your articles are quantitative, copy and paste the quantitative items, so you just have quantitative items for both articles. Delete the items for a qualitative article.

Name of Article:

Complete this section if your article is quantitative.

1. What is the research question/hypothesis? If there are several hypotheses, pick the one that is of most interest to you.

2. For the hypothesis you selected, identify the following:

a. Independent Variable(s)– IV:

b. Dependent Variable(s)– DV:

c. Mediating or Moderating Variable(s) – if applicable – MV:

3. Identify the measures, reliability, and level of measurement for each variable in the selected hypothesis – if reliability is not noted, indicate that it is not noted:

For example:

I V: depression – Beck Depression Inventory – internal consistency=.85 – interval/ratio

4. Does the study use an inductive or deductive methodology?

5. Does the study use probability or non-probability sampling? Which specific type of sampling was used?

6. What type of design was used – pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, experimental?

7. What information is presented on the ethical standards?

8. In looking at the sample, is diversity apparent? Remember, this can include age, race, gender or anything you see as related to diversity.

Complete this section if your article is qualitative.

1. What were the research question(s) for the study? If no research question is noted, what are they attempting to learn?

2. What were the main concepts under study – similar to variables, not their results?

3. How many questions were asked? Were the questions from a standardized measure (i.e., did they say they got the questions from an existing source) or were they created for the study or did they use an unstructured approach?

4. Does the study use an inductive or deductive methodology?

5. Does the study use probability or non-probability sampling? Which specific type of sampling was used?

6. What type of design was used – pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, experimental?

7. What information is presented on the ethical standards?

8. In looking at the sample, is diversity apparent? Remember, this can include age, race, gender or anything you see as related to diversity.