Reference no: EM133488631

Question: Critical thinking skills are essential "so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:14, ESV). This is particularly important when reading findings of psychological research. Using the following suggestions, one can begin to ascertain what to look for when reading results of research:

What is the hypothesis? In a scholarly journal article, the hypothesis is often in the last paragraph of the introduction. Wording to look for is:
We hypothesize that . . .
We set out to learn if . . .
The goal of the study was to . . .
Did the author(s) prove their hypothesis? This will be stated in the results section and the discussion at the end of the article.
How did the author(s) come to their conclusions? This is usually based on statistical evidence that the results were statistically significant.
What words/phrases are ambiguous? Are there any operational definitions?
What value conflicts and/or assumptions of the author are indicated?
In the conclusion, what strengths and limitations to the study are listed?
How good is the evidence - can it be verified with further research?
Are there other possible conclusions from the research? Did the authors make discoveries that were unexpected?
Is there significant information that has been omitted?