Evaluating Research in Academic Journals

A Practical Guide to Realistic Evaluation (Fourth Edition)

Ø A supplementary guide for students who are learning how to evaluate reports of empirical research published in academic journals.
Ø Your students will learn the practical aspects of evaluating research—not just how to apply a laundry list of technical terms from their textbooks.
Ø 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.
Ø 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.
Ø 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.
Ø The structure of this book enables students to work with confidence while evaluating articles for homework.
Ø 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.
Ø This book received very high student evaluations when field-tested with students just beginning their study of research methods.
Ø New to this edition: Throughout this edition, the examples from published research reports have been updated. In addition, the coverage in most chapters has been expanded.
 

A sample of professors' reactions:

"We adopted this book as a permanent fixture in our introductory seminar…. I have seen a clear improvement overall in the capacity of new graduate students to evaluate literature in research journals. They liked the book, and we love the results. Highly useful text"
    — Gregory D. Russell, Washington State University

"Wonderful tool—particularly for first-year graduate students who have had little exposure to literature relevant to their discipline."
    — Eric Frauman, Middle Tennessee State University

"This book assists my students to better evaluate what they read for their own literature reviews as well as assisting them to write better empirical reports the next semester. I highly recommend this book for introductory social research methods and statistics courses."
    — Suzan Waller, University of Central Oklahoma

"Excellent! Most thorough and understandable treatment of the topics I've ever seen. This is a terrific practical guide. I can't imagine teaching the senior honors thesis course
without it."
    — Eva Garroutte, Boston College

"In learning to penetrate academic 'jargon,' the last thing students need is more of it. As clear as it is concise, this book is an exceptional effort in every way and a welcome supplement to my research methods class."
    — Alfred P. Kielwasser, San Francisco State University

"I use it for senior research project. The checklist (Appendix) of evaluation questions not only helps [students] critique existing research but helps them to write their own."
    —Chris Ahlman, Lewis-Clark State College
 

Students can start evaluating research the first week of class with this easy-to-follow book.

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