Evaluating Research in Academic Journals

Chapters

1. Background for Evaluating Research Reports

2. Evaluating Titles

3. Evaluating Abstracts

4. Evaluating Introductions and Literature Reviews

5. A Closer Look at Evaluating Literature Reviews

6. Evaluating Samples When Researchers Generalize

7. Evaluating Samples When Researchers Do Not Generalize

8. Evaluating Instrumentation

9. Evaluating Experimental Procedures

10. Evaluating Analysis and Results Sections: Quantitative Research

11. Evaluating Analysis and Results Sections: Qualitative Research

12. Evaluating Discussion Sections

13. Putting It All Together

Appendix A: Quantitative and Qualitative Research: An Overview

Appendix B: Examining the Validity Structure of Qualitative Research

Appendix C: The Limitations of Significance Testing

Appendix D: Checklist of Evaluation Questions

Professor Reviews

“Wonderful tool—particularly for first-year graduate students who have had little exposure to literature relevant to their discipline.”

— Eric Frauman, Middle Tennessee State University

“This book assists my students to better evaluate what they read for their own literature reviews as well as assisting them to write better empirical reports the next semester. I highly recommend this book for introductory social research methods and statistics courses.”

— Suzan Waller, University of Central Oklahoma

“Excellent! Most thorough and understandable treatment of the topics I’ve ever seen. This is a terrific practical guide. I can’t imagine teaching the senior honors thesis course without it.”

— Eva Garroutte, Boston College

“In learning to penetrate academic ‘jargon,’ the last thing students need is more of it. As clear as it is concise, this book is an exceptional effort in every way and a welcome supplement to my research methods class.”

— Alfred P. Kielwasser, San Francisco State University

“I use it for senior research project. The checklist (Appendix) of evaluation questions not only helps [students] critique existing research but helps them to write their own.”

— Chris Ahlman, Lewis-Clark State College

“I have used this book for several years and find that it becomes an excellent resource for teaching students how to evaluate titles, abstracts, introductions, and literature reviews. After reading this text, my students write a literature review.”

— Priscilla Reinertsey, University of New Hampshire

“Students find it very clear and readily use it to evaluate journal articles. The checklist is an excellent resource for students. As a teacher, I find the text well organized and easy to integrate into my writing/research course.”

— Regena G. Stevens-Ratchford, Towson University

“This is a really concise manual for evaluating research. Extremely helpful as a teaching tool.”

— Faith Troupe, Valdosta State University

“Very helpful, accessible resource for first-year doctoral students. Lays a good foundation for subsequent methods courses and independent research.”

— Catherine Brighton, University of Virginia, Charlottesville