Assessment I

Outline Select a paper of interest Not a thought piece or a review Empirical research Get paper approved Produce 2,000 word report.

Requirements Demonstration of Understanding – summary of paper – discuss implications of findings. (20%) Context – what is the underlying theory – what practitioners should read the paper (10%) Critique of the research undertaken – most important part (30%) How can the paper be improved? (15%) Discuss Reliability and Validity (15%) Have separate sections of the above Presentation (10%)

4 Critical Review Choose an academic peer reviewed journal article in which some empirical work has been undertaken (i.e. not a commentary or a thought piece) and produce a critical review in 2000 words. Include a copy of the article with your Critical Review Dont choose the first article you come across, identify 4 or 5 possible articles and choose the best one Good if the subject matter of the article is related to what you might do in your Dissertation as this means you will already have reviewed part of the relevant literature Try to choose an article that genuinely interests you

5 Critical Review Start with a summary of the article to show that you understand what the subject matter is about and how the research was conducted Discuss the positioning of the article within the academic discipline or area. Bring in what you know about the topic from modules on the programme. Highlight the weak and strong areas of the research, dont forget to give praise where it is due. Make sure this is a discussion based on your own interpretation and analysis of the research and not simply a description of what has been reported.

6 Critical Review Based on the previous section make suggestions as to how the study could be improved. Imagine you are required to repeat the research, how would you make it better. Think about the research approach and also any improvements that could be made to the article itself. Is the research valid, and was the study conducted in a reliable manner? Are the findings generalisable to other situations or are they limited to this particular study? Make sure that your Critical Review is well-written, logically structured and easy to follow. Address each of the required areas on the marking plan in detail.

E Journals Nuin link Science Direct Sage ABI INFORM Emerald Full Text Wiley