Research reports (aka journal articles) are typically dense with information. The following questions provide an organized way for you to break down the parts of a research report to understand its purpose, methods, findings, and implications. Then use your answers to write a short, purposeful summary with all the necessary information.
Begin by writing the reference for the research article in APA format
(Write it here. You do not need a page for ‘References’ at the end, as you only have one reference for this assignment)
Introduction
(Answer each question with a short phrase or sentence only. Write the page number where this information is found in the report/ article. E.g. See p. 132, See p. 64. etc )
1. What is the topic of the article?
2. What is the study hypothesis (or hypotheses)?
3. What type of research was conducted (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods empirical study or meta-analysis) or what was the paper type (e.g., literature review, replication)?
Method
(Answer each question with a short phrase or sentence only)
4. How many people (or nonhuman animals) participated in the study?
5. Who were the participants? Describe from where they were recruited (e.g., college student subject pool) and all relevant personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender, race or ethnicity).
6. Where was the study conducted (e.g., online, lab, home, school, work, hospital, clinic)?
7. What tests or measures were collected (e.g., surveys, questionnaires)?
8. What analyses were conducted (e.g., correlation, t test, chi-square test, analysis of variance, thematic)?
Results or Findings
(Answer each question with one to two sentences only)
9. What are the main results or findings from the study?
10. If there are tables and/or figures, what types of tables (e.g., demographic, correlation) and/or figures (e.g., bar graph, participant flow) are they? What important information do they convey?
Discussion
(Answer each question with one to two sentences only)
11. What are the main conclusions of the research?
12. To whom do the results or findings apply? Can they be generalized to all people in all places, to certain subsets of people, or something else?
13. What are the strengths and limitations of the study?
14. What are areas for further investigation on this topic?
Summary
(Write a summary of this research article in ONE paragraph of 100- 150 words that includes all the important information you identified above)
‘A Gap/s in the Literature’ identified in this study
(Write one to two sentences)