Evaluating Research In Academic Journals: A Practical Guide to Realistic Evaluation

by Fred Pyrczak

A supplementary guide for students who are learning how to evaluate reports of empirical research published in academic journals.

Your students will learn the practical aspects of evaluating research, not just how to apply a laundry list of technical terms from their textbooks.

Each chapter is organized around evaluation questions. For each question, there is a concise explanation of how to apply it in the evaluation of research reports.

Numerous examples from journals in the social and behavioral sciences illustrate the application of the evaluation questions. Students see actual examples of strong and weak features of published reports.

Commonsense models for evaluation combined with a lack of jargon make it possible for students to start evaluating research articles the first week of class.

The structure of this book enables students to work with confidence while evaluating articles for homework.

Avoids oversimplification in the evaluation process by describing the nuances that may make an article publishable even though it has serious methodological flaws. Students learn when and why certain types of flaws may be tolerated. They learn why evaluation should not be performed mechanically.

This book received very high student evaluations when field-tested with students just beginning their study of research methods.

Contains more than 60 new examples from recently published research. In addition, minor changes have been made throughout for consistency with the latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

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Genres: Counselling, Nonfiction, School, Science, Research Methods, Reference, Education

114 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

A necessary evil this summer.

[Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been in academic for about 20 years. It would have been great if I'd read Pyrczak's book at the start of my career. He has a lot of good insights into what you should look for when reading scholarly articles. This book is great for novices and it serves as a nice refresher for seasoned scholars.

[Meg Coulson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very instructive. Very boring.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so helpful for beginners in research. Each chapter is just a list of what is appropriate and what is not appropriate in a research article. It provides a ton of examples within each chapter as well. I could see myself using this later in my career, just as a quick reference. It's very clear and concise on how a research article should look.

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 2 out of 5]

What can I say? This book secured me an A+ on my final paper which was a literature review in preparation for my PhD dissertation. So, is this a great resource to have to make sure you utilize critical thinking as you work through the trials of your dissertation? Yes, yes, yes.

[Kelli Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is filled with lots of examples. Some of the examples are clearer than others. Overall it helped me get through my research class with an A.

[Annelise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The exercises are only useful in a class context where they can be analyzed, but this book transformed my strategies when evaluating research. Would recommend to anyone in any field