To improve our skills analyzing a primary text by agreeing or disagreeing with secondary sources after having properly synthesized/summarized that source. We should also Critiquing Use of Theory in Research Articles

Topic: Critiquing Use of Theory in Research Articles

Order Description

Discussion – Week 4
COLLAPSE
Critiquing Use of Theory in Research Articles

Last week, you worked to understand theory and its role and importance in research. This week, the first four weeks of the course come together when you critique the use of theory in a research article.

Special Note: Your Instructor has assigned you to one of two articles in your discipline, referred to as Article A or Article B. One of these is quantitative and one is qualitative, although you have not been told which is which—this is something you will discover for this Discussion. Your program selected these articles as they are good examples of research articles for your discipline.

For next week’s Discussion, you will use the same article again. Then, in Discussion for Weeks 6 and 7, you will use the other article. In other words, if you are assigned Article A for this week and the next, you will switch and use Article B in Weeks 6 and 7.

The Respond requirement this week does not follow the usual guidelines. You will still respond to two colleagues, but one of those colleagues must have read Article A and one must have read Article B. As a result, you will need to familiarize yourself with the article you were not assigned to in order to respond effectively.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review your assigned article—either Article A or Article B, as described above. Also, review the article to which you were not assigned. You will be required to respond to one colleague who read the other article, so you should have a working knowledge of that article in order to respond effectively.

Review Chapter 6 in the course text, A Primer in Theory Construction and Chapter 3 in the course text, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches.

Review the annotated journal article "Examining Contextual Factors in the Career Decision Status of African American Adolescents," which is annotated to reveal how the theory is used.

Consider characteristics of quantitative and qualitative studies as presented in Creswell.

Determine if your assigned article is quantitative or qualitative. Remember the distinction for future work with the two articles. Analyze the characteristics of the article that make it quantitative or qualitative.

Look to the Use of Theory Checklist that you downloaded as a guide for critiquing the theoretical framework of your assigned article.

Identify and analyze the assumptions found in your assigned article.
With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 3 a 3-paragraph critique in which you:

Identify your assigned article as quantitative or qualitative and support your assertion with an analysis of three defining characteristics.

Describe, and critique the theoretical framework using the "Use of Theory Checklist" as a guide.

Analyze at least one assumption in your assigned article.