HLTH9212 EVIDENCE-BASED DECSION MAKING:

SPRING 2021
EVALUATION

Community & Health Studies, School of Nursing & Personal Support Worker

Evidence-Base Decision Making HLTH9216 Credit Value: 6

Evaluation: Article Critique

Value: 20% of final grade

Due Date: As per the course Teaching and Learning Plan, this evaluation is due
Week 9.

Expectation: Utilizing the information from course material and discussion, as well as
additional research complete the assignment as outlined in the description. This is an
individual assignment. The final submission is to be completed in appropriate APA
format, with all researched material cited in the appropriate APA style. The
assignment is to be between 4-8 pages (double spaced) in length (not including title
page or appendices)
Submission: To be submitted electronically on Blackboard

Description: Article Critique

1. Effective evidence-based decision making is predicated on the use of well

written and conducted research. Evaluating academic research to ensure it has
been conducted in an effective manner, will assist in the selection of the
research that you would use in addressing an issue or concern.

2. Select an article that is related to an issue or concern in healthcare. The article

should be;
 Minimum of 5 pages and a maximum of 15 pages of text (not including
title page, reference page, illustrations, tables, etc.)
 Must be a quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods research study
 Must be a research study related to healthcare issue
 Must be original research (be careful that you are not reviewing
someone else’s literature review)
 From a peer reviewed journal only
 Must be an article written within the last 10 years
HLTH9212 EVIDENCE-BASED DECSION MAKING:
SPRING 2021
EVALUATION

Critique Format:
Consider the following questions as you read the article.
NOTE: You are critiquing the “quality” of the article and NOT your opinion of the
conclusions 
1. Introduction
a. What is the main research problem addressed in the article?
b. Is the purpose of the research problem/study made clear?

2. Review of the Literature

Critique/Evaluate the literature review (e.g what are the shortcomings/strenghts).

a. For example, you can consider questions such as:

b. Has the author cited the pertinent, and only the pertinent, literature? If the
author has included inconsequential references, or references that are not
pertinent, suggest deleting them.
c. Have any ideas been overemphasized or underemphasized? Suggest specific
revisions.
d. Should some sections of the article be expanded, condensed or omitted?
e. Is the literature review clear? Challenge ambiguous statements. Suggest by
examples how clarity can be achieved, but do not merely substitute your style
for the author’s.
f. Is the review logically organized? Does it offer a balanced critical analysis of
the literature? Is the majority of the literature recent? Is the literature mainly
from primary sources of empirical nature?
g. Are all term, theories, concepts mentioned in the study clearly defined?
h. Were all books, journals and other meeting referenced in the study
appropriately and accurately referenced?

Methodology
Critique/Evaluate the design of the study.

For example, you can consider questions such as:

a. Is the research design clearly identified? Has the data gathering instruments
been described and is it appropriate to the design of the study? Were reliability
and validity testing undertaken and the results discussed? Was a pilot study
undertaken?
b. Is the study design and statistical methods(s) appropriate for the purposes of
the study (cite references to support your conclusion)?
c. Identify strengths and possible problems with the methods used.
HLTH9212 EVIDENCE-BASED DECSION MAKING:
SPRING 2021
EVALUATION

d. Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable a reader to

duplicate them?
e. Do you find any content repeated or duplicated?
f. Is the methodology logically organized? Does the research report follow the
steps of the research process in a logical manner? Do these steps naturally
flow and are the links clear?
g. Has the target populations been clearly identified? Was the sample size
adequate?
h. Was ethical permission granted for the study?
i. Were participants full informed about the nature of the research and was
confidentially explained/guaranteed?

3. Overall Critique
As a researcher, provide your opinion of the research study.

For example, you can consider questions such as:

a. Is the article well written (e.g. concise, coherent, grammatically correct,
readable)?
b. Is the article well laid out and organized (e.g. does it follow proper format)?
c. Does the title reflect the study? Is it clear, accurate and unambiguous?
HLTH9212 EVIDENCE-BASED DECSION MAKING:
SPRING 2021
EVALUATION

Article Selection
Adequate (70 – 100%) Requires Improvement (0 – 69%)
 Article is peer reviewed  Article does not meet all of the requirements
 Article contains original research including
empirical evidence
 Article provides a good example of one of
quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods design
 Article is current (no more than 10 years old)
 Article is related to Organizational Assessment
and Accountability.

Critique of Article
Adequate (70 – 100%)
 All explanations clear and easy to understand,
factually correct
 Appropriate quotations and citations are made to
help the reader understand the article
 All technical terms used correctly and defined
clearly, including terms with different common
meanings; overuse of jargon avoided
 Error-free, easy to read writing style, well
practiced and polished use of language
 The paper is an in-depth examination of the
literature review and methodology parts of the
research process
 No personal views are expressed, and the critique
is objective, highlighting strengths and limitations
of the study
Requires Improvement (0 – 69%)
 Some critical details missing, unnecessary details
may be present
 Serious difficulty explaining ideas, major factual
errors; lack of comprehensibility
 Jargon terms used incorrectly, without definition;
attempting to sound "scientific" without
understanding meaning
 Errors and awkwardness, excessive use of
quotations in place of author's own words,
excessive paraphrasing

Writing and APA

Adequate (70 – 100%) Requires Improvement (0 – 69%)
 Writing style consistent with graduate level  Writing style inconsistent with graduate level
expectations expectations
o Basic coherence and unity is  Unity and coherence not demonstrated at the
demonstrated in writing level required for this course; requires
o No spelling, grammar, formatting, refinement/development
referencing errors  Spelling, grammar, formatting and/or
 APA is correct referencing errors present
 No personal pronouns are used  APA has errors and/or requires development
 Personal pronouns are used

A B C