Personal Toolkit for Critiquing Research Articles

After reading the article, the following questions can be asked;

1. Did I understand the principle as per the argument?
2. Did I identify the most important points?
3. Are there gaps relating to the article?

Strategies

Strategically, critical reading of a research article begins by being selective. Being selective means the reader should select the best text out of the research report. By becoming selective, the user must start by identifying what he or she is searching for. After the identification, examination of the contents page becomes quite easy. After selecting the content page, speed-reading then follows to absorb the overall impression about the research topic. Speed-reading helps in knowing the areas in search; areas, chapters of sections which are most relevant are identified for thorough reading while areas of less relevance are ignored. The main aim of speed reading is to determine what the research article is talking about but not to understand the entire article. Besides this strategy, SQ3R can also be used. SQ3R comprises of surveying, questioning, reading, recalling, and reviewing. Survey is about speed-reading (Taslidere, and Eryilmaz, 2012). Under the question, the text is keenly observed and questions extracted out of it, which are then used as guidelines for reading. With the questions, the reading is changed to active pursuit from passive (Roberts et al., 2012). Some of the possible questions while reading a research article seek to answer the importance of reading the specific piece of writing, what is known about the subject, how various chapters relate to the research question and how what is read can be linked to a real life experience. The next subject is “Read,” which entails reading the main research article. Reading involves careful consideration of the meaning drawn from the paper. Therefore, it both involves being active and critical at the same time. In the recall, what had been read is traced back. Lastly, a review of the article is taken to ensure that the text has been understood. 

Article 1: What is Validity and why Does it Matter in Research?

Like any other research article, reading this piece of writing begins by tracing the answers for the purpose of reading it, tracing what had already been acquired relating to the article, the relationship of various chapters within the paper and how the entire text relate to the worldly experience. Through speed-reading, the purpose of reading the article is drawn as knowing the actual meaning of validity and identify its importance in research. While relating the research topic and what had been acquired earlier, it is observed that efficacy related directly to research. Selection of critical areas then follows. Here, the heading, four types of validity and the importance of validity are selected as the main parts of the research article (Psucd8, 2011). Other segments are the threats to internal validity and the relationship between validity and reliability (Convery et al., 2015).

The heading notifies the reader about the general picture of the article. It defines validity as the degree upon which the study under interrogation measures the intended item. Coming to types, face, concurrent, predictive and construct validity are identified as some of the types of validity.  According to the article, threats to validity includes testing effect and biases of instruments. It is also stated that there is various importance of validity. Some of them are ensuring efficient use of results and gives directions on how to control threats to validity (Convery et al., 2015). Finally, the article related validity to reality in that; both of them are independent concepts in research. They also determine a good study.  These areas of the research components relate in that; each one of them brings a vivid picture of validity and its importance. Relating to practical experience, efficacy makes any story valid. To ensure that the article is well understood, the main principles and points such as the types of validity are recalled by reading the article again but faster. 

Article 2: Exploring Reliability in Academic Assessment

Just like in article one, the quick step in reading is speed-reading. This passage intends to determine the worthiness of the article, familiarizing with it, identifying the various chapters and relating them. As defined by the title, the purpose of reading this paper is to understand the meaning of validity and exploring it in academic assessment. According to the article, reliability is a degree where an evaluation equipment provides a consistence and stable results. Various components of the article are types of reliability, validity, and types of validity. Test-retest parallel forms, inter-rater, and internal consistency is identified under the types of validity section (Sijtsma, 2015). Talking about validity, the paper states that it is the appropriateness of taking the intended measurements by a test. It is also noted that there are many types of validity. They include constructing validity, face, sampling, formative and criterion-related validity (Phelan and Wren, 2005).

To relate the research article with what had been learned earlier, it is evident that reliability is directly linked to validity. While validity ensures that tool used to take measurements measure must make sure that the intended subject is measures, security provides that such measurements must be consistency and stable (Wladis and Samuels, 2016). Therefore, validity depends on reliability to remain valid. Apparently, various chapters of the article relate. For instance, the types of reliability are all linked to reliability itself, just like the components of validity. To a worldly experience, reliability is widely applied in learning institutions to determine the level of knowledge acquired by use of tests (Ackerman and Educational Testing Service, 2014). To sum up, the article is read again but fast to recall main points. Such points are types of reliability comprising of test-retest parallel forms, inter-rater, and internal consistency.

References

Ackerman, D. J., & Educational Testing Service, P. C. (2014). State-Funded PreK Policies on External Classroom Observations: Issues and Status. Policy Information Report. Educational Testing Service,

Convery, E., Keidser, G., Seeto, M., Yeend, I., &Freeston, K. (2015). Factors Affecting Reliability and Validity of Self-Directed Automatic in Situ Audiometry: Implications for Self-Fitting Hearing Aids. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 26(1), 5-18. doi:10.3766/jaaa.26.1.2

 Psucd8. (2011).What is validity and why is it important in research? Just another WordPress.com site. Derived from https://psucd8.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/why-is-validity-important-in-research/

Phelan, C., & Wren, J., (2005).Exploring reliability in academic assessment. UNI. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/USER/Desktop/Reliability%20and%20Validity.html

Roberts, K. D., Takahashi, K., Park, H., &Stodden, R. A. (2012). Supporting Struggling Readers in Secondary School Science Classes. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 44(6), 40-48.

Sijtsma, K. (2015). Delimiting Coefficient α from Internal Consistency and Unidimensionality. Educational Measurement: Issues & Practice, 34(4), 10-13.

Taslidere, E. &Eryilmaz, A. (2012). The Relative Effectiveness of Integrated Reading Study Strategy and Conceptual Physics Approach. Research in Science Education, 42(2), 181-199.

Wladis, C., & Samuels, J. (2016). Do online readiness surveys do what they claim? Validity, reliability, and subsequent student enrollment decisions. Computers & Education, 9839-56. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2016.03.001