T3 Slide W3 Flashcards
What is Critical Appraisal?
- A balanced assessment
- Assessment of both process and results
- Considers quantitative and qualitative dimensions
- Undertaken by all health practitioners
What is NOT Critical appraisal
- Dismissal of research
- Narrow critique of results
- Based solely on statistical analysis
- Only for experts
Two skills central to the research process
- Searching the literature
- Critically appraising (or evaluating) the literature that exists
Two purposes for literature review
- Discover what has already been done in your area of interest
- Chronological representation of ideas
- Shows which ideas have been abandoned due to lack of support
- Shows which ideas have been confirmed as “truths”
- Discover what needs to be done in your area of interest
Three types of sources for research
- General
- Secondary
- Primary
General Sources
- Overview of topic
- Provides leads to further information Examples: newspapers, periodicals and magazines, Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, New York Times Index
Secondary Sources
- Sources “once removed” from original research
Examples: review papers, anthologies of readings, textbooks, encyclopaedias
Describe Journals
- Collection of research articles published in a particular discipline
- Most important primary source of information about a topic Examples: Australian Journal of Psychology Applied Psychology
Process of review for Journals
- Researcher submits article in format specified by journal
- Editor distributes article to three reviewers ; peer review + blind review - FOUR possible recommendations
- Accept outright
- Accept with revisions
- Reject with suggestions for revision
- Reject outright
- Editor conveys decision to author
- Average rejection rate for top journals > 80%
- Beware publication bias (significant results 3x more likely to be published compared to null results).
What is APA manuscript?
The APA was “developed to assist reading comprehension in the social and behavioural sciences, for clarity of communication, and to move the idea forward with a minimum of distraction and a maximum of precision”
Why have Scientific Laboratory Reporting Standards?
- Consistent standards aid in the comprehension and generalisation of study outcomes
- Helps to understand how research was conducted
- Based on research design not topic
What does a manuscript look like? (10+2)
- Title page
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Method
- Participants
- Materials and Procedure
- Results
- Discussion
- References
- Appendices
- Author Notes
- Footnotes
The Title (10)
- Approx. limit 12 words
- Summarises the main idea of the manuscript
- First impression!
- Concise statement; identify variables/theoretical issues explored
- Stand alone (fully explanatory) and suggest importance of idea
- Statement of content for abstracting/search
- Avoid irrelevant wording (e.g., “A study of…”)
- Avoid abbreviations
- Upper and lowercase
- Centred between margins, upper half of page
- Style – “Nitric Oxide and Inflammation: The Answer Is Blowing In the Wind.
The Abstract (8)
- Brief, but comprehensive, summary of the report; perhaps the most vital paragraph! Often written last
- Dense with information (150-250 words*); keywords
- Reader should understand purpose of paper, research approach, design, findings, and implications
- Used for searching and catalogue (e.g., EndNote)
- Most journals require an abstract
- Should be accurate, non-evaluative, concise
- Use past tense for describing manipulations, outcomes, etc.
- Use present tense when describing conclusions drawn
Abstract should contain (8+NB)
- Start abstract on a new page, identified with running head
- The problem (one sentence) and/or purpose
- Description of participants (including notable characteristics)
- Features of method
- Basic findings (often including effect sizes and p values)
- Conclusions
- Implications/applications
N.B The above applies to an experimental report. However, the abstract may take different form based on different methods (e.g., meta-analysis, theory-based paper, case study, etc.)
