CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH STUDY

A critical review (sometimes called a critique, critical commentary, critical appraisal and critical analysis) is a detailed commentary on and
critical evaluation of a text. Critical review may carry out a as a stand-alone exercise, or as part of your research and preparation for writing a
literature review. Research critique is a planned, careful critical evaluation of a piece of research work against the pre specified criteria to judge
the strengths and weaknesses of the research study. Critique should be balanced, where alternative suggestions must be provided to further
enforce the strengths and eliminate the weaknesses of the study to improve overall quality of the research project.

Purposes

• To provide inputs regarding the strength and weakness of a study to the researchers.
• To provide suggestions to the students regarding the methodological flaws in their research project and also to evaluate the understanding of
research by the students.
• To judge the scientific merits of the study.
• To take a decision whether to publish the study in journal or not.

Guidelines for Writing a Research Critique

• Read and understand the research report carefully.

• Carryout the critical appraisal of all the aspects of the research report before writing the critique of a research report.
• Avoid general vague statements; be objective and sensitive while framing the negative comments, and be practical by considering all the
limitations of the research.
• Keep a balanced approach in the research critique by presenting both strong and weak points of report, because certainly no report without any
negative aspects.
• Positive and negative points must be supported with examples to make a clear stand about the strengths and weaknesses of the research report.

Guidelines for critiquing the research report

• Some of the positive points of the study can be gathered from the questions formulated; more the number of questions answered with ‘yes’, the
better the study is considered. A rating scale may be used for critiquing a research report.

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 Problem statement :

“ An exploratory cross – sectional survey to assess drug abuse among public and private universities undergraduates in Punjab.”

Sr.no. Topic Content Remarks

1. Problem An exploratory cross – sectional survey to assess drug  The problem statement clearly and concisely articulated.
statement abuse among public and private universities  The problem significant for nursing profession and the
undergraduates in Punjab. researcher provided good argument for the significance.
 Title is in brief and clear.
 Outcome variable is clear
 Population is defined
 Setting is clearly defined
 Total words used -14
2. Abstract Drug abuse is an intense and often willful misuse of drugs.  Structured
The overdrew of substance or drugs leads to addiction. In  Beginning of the article
the eastern world the incidence shows a decline or a static  Objectives are mentioned.
pattern but the number of drug addicts is still enormous.  Components are:
The major abusive drugs are heroin and marijuana but –Background
designer drugs(cannabinoids)have shown on the peak. –Methods
–Results and Conclusions are included and
–Keywords are mentioned.
 Total words: 160
3. Introduction Substance abuse is defined as a maladaptive pattern of  Concepts clearly stated, consistent with the title, related
substance .use leading to clinically significant impairment literature reviewed, most of the references used of last 5-12
or distress, wherein the person may also suffer from years, some are older.
tolerance and withdrawal . Substance abuse is not limited  Need of the study is stated
to mood altering or psychoactive drugs. Activity is also
considered substance abuse when inappropriately used (as
in steroids for performance enhancement in sports).
Therefore, mood altering and psychoactive substances are
not the drugs of abuse. Some of the drug most often
associated with this term includes alcohol, amphetamine,
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 MDMA, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine,
mathaqualone, and opioids. Use of these drugs may lead to
criminal penalty in addition to possible Physical, Social,
and Psychological harm. Substance abuse is a common
problem worldwide. Alcohol is widely consumed by
various sections of the society, most notably by the very
tributary and the impoverished.
4. Objectives The aim of the study is to determine the ratio of the drug  Mentioned in the abstract part.
abuse in student.  The objectives stated are in clear and concise form.
 The objectives stated are using accepted action verbs in
logical manner
5. Operational Not stated  Not stated
definitions
6. Assumption Abuse of drug is more common in students of private  Clear
institution due to abandoned opportunities than public  Specific
institutions.  Assumption is based on conceptual framework used in
research study
7. Conceptual Not mentioned  Not mentioned
framework
8. Literature review Majidshafique et al.  The literature is completely in accordance with research
Gelder M et al problem
Emmanuel, Akhtar & Rahbar et al  The literature is reviewed from the current and primary
Foo YC, Tam CL, Lee TH et al sources
 The literature review is well-organized under subheadings
in a chronological order according to the year of the study
 The literature review is presented in an analytical way to
draw the meaningful inferences
9. Variable Research variable – Drug abuse in among college students  Stated clearly
10. Research design Cross -sectional study conducted among the undergraduate  Questionnaire based survey stated
students of private and public universities  Target population is defined
 The design is appropriate to answer the research question

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  The researcher is attempt to control for threats to internal
and external validity
11. Sample and Five hundred students  The sample size is adequate
sampling  The sample is likely to be similar to members of
technique population overall
 Sampling technique is not mentioned
12. Research Structured questionnaire  The instrument of data collection is described sufficiently
instrument  The data collection methods is appropriate
13. Data collection A survey based on structured questionnaire  Clearly stated
procedure  Data collection method is described clearly
14. Validity of the Not mentioned  Not mentioned
tool
15. Reliability of the Not mentioned  Not mentioned
tool
16. Ethical Study protocol was discussed with students  The participants are safe from any physical harms, risks,
considerations Verbal informed consent was obtained from the students. psychological and social distress and discomfort
 Confidentiality of information and anonymity and privacy
of subjects is maintained
 An appropriate verbal consent taken from all the study
participants
 A written permission is obtained from competent authority
to conduct the research study
17. Statistical analysis By using SPSS V 15  The process is used to analyze data clear
Inferential and descriptive statistics is used  Data analysis is appropriate to answer the research
Data is presented in the form of graphs, tables , bar question
diagram.  The results provided are clear and understandable
 The tables are clear and understandable.
18. Interpretation  Results are discussed using figures ,graphs and  The discussion is ‘fit’ with the data
and discussion of tables.  It is logical based on the data and results presented
data  Table headings, table number, footnotes clearly  The researcher discuss the findings in regard to previous
stated. research

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  The prevalence of drug abuse is more in private  The researcher discuss the findings in regard to the
sector than public sector colleges theoretical framework
 The explanations in the text are consistent with the  The researcher identify limitations of the study
tables. Important results are available.eg:
knowledge
 Generalizability is questionable.
 Research findings compared with other related
studies also.

19. Limitations  The study is limited to students above 15 years
20. Conclusion Possible explanations for most of the findings stated.
The results concluded that abuse of drug was more
common in students of private institution due to abandoned
opportunities.
Male students were found more abusive than females.
Substance abuse was greatly affected socioeconomic status
of students.
There is need in future to research more and find more
elaborated results of this highly considerable issue.
21. References Bush, K., Kivlahan, D. R., McDonell, M. B., Fihn, S. D., &
Bradley, K. A. (1998). The AUDIT alcohol consumption
questions (AUDIT-C): an effective brief screening test for
problem drinking. Archives of internal medicine, 158(16),
1789-1795.
22. Presentation of –Report is not well written and documented.
research report –Abstract adequately summarized.
–No use of jargons.
–No irrelevant details.
–Important /valuable information lacking.
 Limitations are stated
 The study has concluded concisely and precisely depicting
most significant findings
 The conclusions has drawn in accordance with study
objectives, assumptions, and conceptual framework
 Practical recommendations are made towards
improvement in the nursing practices
 The recommendations are consistent with the research
findings and results
 The recommendations are made with suggested changes
and improvements in the methodologies of the further
researcher studies on similar topics.
 APA style of reference is used
 Clearly stated

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 - organization of report is complicated.
23. Recommendations  Title could have been written clearly.
 Objectives of the study could have been stated separately.
 Report could have been well organized, so that readers can understand the evidence easily.
 Need of the study could have been stated clearly.
 Doctors also could be involved as a sample to make the study more effective.
 The study could be made more specific on a particular aspect.