Critique writing

How to write an effective critique of a

journal article.

Presented by: Taryn Tavener-Smith

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Understand how to critique academic writing.

• Apply Caldwell’s critiquing framework.

• Identify the steps of Caldwell’s framework alongside an article

abstract.
 What is a critique?
• A critique evaluates a piece of research (in the form of a journal
article).

• It considers the strengths and weaknesses of that research,

focussing on the methods, and concluding whether the research is
likely to be effective in practice.

• This is a crucial part of Evidence Based Practice. No research is

perfect and it is important to be critical of the methods so that the
findings can be evaluated effectively.
 ‘Critique’ also known as …
• Critical review.
• Evaluation of research.
• NOT the same as a literature review!
 Why is this
relevant for us?

• McCaughan et al. (2002:46) maintain that

“qualified nurses reported problems in
interpreting and using research.”

• Health professionals expected to be

“intelligent consumers of research”
(McCaughan et al., 2002:46)  read,
understand, apply research.

• There are many potential flaws in research.

For example, the sample (participants) may
be too small or not representative of the
overall population  you need to evaluate
and critically comment on this!
 Caldwell et al. (2005)
critique framework

Quantitative Qualitative

Results in questions
about: confirmability,
Result in questions about:
dependability, credibility,
reliability and validity.
transferability.
Caldwell’s framework (2005)
1. Consistency.
2. How would you identify
credibility? (Think about the
institution the author is from).
3. Recall that abstracts are
written last.
4. Rationale = main reasons/why
(i.e. gap in knowledge-base,
increase in certain pathology).
5. ** (research younger than 10
years). No citations in abstract!
6. What it tries to achieve or ‘do’.
7. ** Human participants,
confidentiality, etc.
8. Qualitative or quantitative,
survey, mixed method, data
base searching, etc.
** what do you think these should
be?
Let’s look at an example:
 What writing style should I use?
• The assignment is in the ‘third person’ but it must reflect your
own critical view, supported by your reading. Example:

As Burns and Grove (2012) point out, interviews should be

recorded for validity and checking. In this case, the
interviews do not seem to have been recorded and this is a
potential flaw. However, the researchers do mention that the
interviewers’ notes were transcribed, so this helped to ensure
validity.

• As you will see, this clearly refers to the reading (Burns and
Grove) but also relates it to the article.
• Remember that this is a critique and so you must use critical
language, e.g. ‘A crucial flaw in this research is that there were
more men than women in the sample’.
 Let’s look at some examples …

Example A
There is a strong positive effect on students, both educationally
and emotionally, when the instructors try to learn to say students'
names without making pronunciation errors (Kiang, 2004).

Use of source material in Example A:

• This is a simple paraphrase with no critical comment.
• It looks like the writer agrees with Kiang.
• This is not a good example for critical writing, as the writer has
not made any critical comment.

Note: Green text refers to source.

 Let’s look at some examples …
Example B

Kiang (2004) gives various examples to support his claim that "the positive
emotional and educational impact on students is clear" (210) when
instructors try to pronounce students' names in the correct way. He quotes
one student as saying that he "felt surprised and happy" (211) when the
tutor said his name clearly. The emotional effect claimed by Kiang is
illustrated in quotes such as these, although the educational impact is
supported more indirectly through the chapter. Overall, he provides more
examples of students being negatively affected by incorrect
pronunciation, and it is difficult to find examples within the text of a positive
educational impact as such.

Use of source material in example B:

• The writer describes Kiang's (2004) claim and the examples which he
uses to try support it.

• The writer then comments that the examples do not seem balanced
and may not be enough to support the claims fully.

• This is a better example of writing which expresses criticality.

Note: Green text refers to source.

 Final tips and tricks …
• You MUST read the article closely and be crystal clear about its
content. It is not enough to make very vague and general
comments (e.g. ‘It is well written’; ‘The results are clear and under
sub-headings’).

• You must link your reading about research methods to your

chosen article. It is not enough just to refer to your reading, e.g. ‘As
Polit and Beck (2010) note, small samples are acceptable in
qualitative research’. You must state clearly why this is relevant to
your article.

• To build your skills in using critical language, see the ‘Being Critical’
section of the website ‘Academic Phrasebank, University of
Manchester’.
 Reference List

Caldwell, K., Henshaw, L., and Taylor, G. 2005. “Developing a

framework for critiquing health research.” Journal of Health,
Social and Environmental Issues. 6(1). pp. 45 – 54.

Kiang, P. N. C. 2004. Voicing names and naming voices:

Pedagogy and persistence in an Asian American studies
classroom. Crossing the curriculum: Multilingual learners in
college classrooms, 207.

Lyons, M. 1998. “The phenomenon of compulsive overeating in

a selected group of professional women.” Journal of
Advanced Nursing. 27. pp. 1158 – 1164.

UCL Writing Centre. 2019. Writing a critique.[ONLINE]. Available

from: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe-writing-centre/critical-
reading-and-writing/critical-review Accessed 6 December
2019.