Guidance Notes
- Read the abstracts of both papers. Have a go at mapping out both
Some students may find it quite helpful to utilise a diagram beside them as they sit reading the paper in detail.
- If anything jumps out at you as “odd” or “I’m not sure what this means” as you read the abstracts, make a note of it so you don’t forget it. At this stage, you might feel that one of the two papers appeals to you more than the other and so you might make your choice at this point.
- Read the paper(s) all the way through. Make a note of anything that seems “odd” or “I’m not sure what this means” or “I need to check this”. Some people like to make notes in the margins of the paper. Some people use highlighter pens. There is no right or wrong way. You might also find it useful to draw a chronological diagram of the study method that shows what the researchers actually did.
- Choose one of the two papers for your assignment. Obtain the appropriate critiquing tool from the Moodle site.
- Start working your way through the critiquing tool, question by question. At this
point, I would start writing on a computer so I was actually starting the first draft of
the assignment. The way to understand research and critical appraisal of research
papers is to actually do critical appraisal. It a practical exercised so the more you do it, you are likely to develop greater skills in doing it.
- As you work through the critiquing tool, you probably want to have one of the
research books that is listed in the module guide available (or any other nursing or
social sciences research text book). You will be able to clarify things you aren’t sure
about by looking them up in the text book. You can also use Google for quick checks
but remember that a text book or journal article is authoritative as a reference in your
assignment but Google is not. Please use an easy to read text such as Parahoo K (2014) or any other research text book that you find easy to read.
- Go back over your answers to the questions in the critiquing tool and make sure that you have explained why the elements that are mentioned are important. For example, if you are commenting on the title of the paper, explain why it is important for it to be clear and not too long.
Give a supporting reference. At this point, you might want to look at useful journal articles which are on the Moodle site, or look at the reference lists at the end of the PowerPoint presentations. You could find some ofyour own journal articles by using the library databases. This is the point at whichyou might find it helpful to speak to the library staff.
- Once you have done the in-depth critique of your chosen paper, you can “top and tail”your assignment by tackling the other elements in turn: Introduction, Usefulness ofthe research study, Conclusion. I would look at the Usefulness of the research studybefore I did the Introduction or Conclusion.
- The section on Usefulness of the research study requires you to think about how the
findings are relevant (or not) to your clinical field. This is where you have a chance to
shine by showing that you are truly interested in your clinical field and being the best
possible practitioner you can be by finding your own supporting material (journal
articles, Department of Health guidance, other reports and documents
11 Check your overall word count for your assignment. The limit is 3000 words +/- 10%
Trim accordingly.