PPHC 03: Evidence Evaluation – What is critical appraisal/Anatomy of a journal article

Question 1

What is a critical appraisal (evidence appraisal or quality assessment)?

Answer 1

process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity (is it trustworthy), results (what did it show), and relevance (how applicable it is to the context of interest) before using it to inform decisions

• involves asking questions about article’s research methods, scrutinizing data collection and analysis, and evaluating how results are presented
• important step in the process of putting research into practice

Question 2

What is the goal of a scientific article?

Answer 2

to communicate results of a research study

• to share and further knowledge on a particular area of research

Question 3

What is the abstract of a paper?

Answer 3

provides an overview of the article

• structured – separated into sections (objectives, methods, results, conclusion)
• unstructured – single paragraph

Question 4

What is the introduction of a paper?

Answer 4

usually 2-5 paragraphs on: problem the article is trying to tackle, context including relevant prior research

• last paragraph is usually a statement of the objective (or purpose) of the research study

Question 5

What is the methods section of a paper?

Answer 5

how did the researchers conduct their study in terms of: study design, data collection, data analysis

• important consideration: how well the study was designed to minimize error(s)/bias – speaks to validity of the study

Question 6

What should you consider when reading the results section of a paper?

Answer 6

• what were the findings
• if applicable, who was studied and what are their characteristics
• were findings presented logically
• did researchers use figures and tables to facilitate interpretation of results

Question 7

What should you consider when reading the discussion section of a paper?

Answer 7

• what were the key finding(s) highlighted/discussed by researchers
• how did the researchers contextualize their findings (with other research)
• did researchers state strengths and limitations of their study, and what were they
• did researchers discuss potential implications (applications of their study)