Article Analysis Introduction
What is an article analysis and how do you
perform one?
Article Analysis Introduction
Article Analysis Introduction
How to Summarise:
• Read the whole thing first (or you can’t see the wood for the trees).
• Then go back and highlight the main points.
• Then list the key points (or draw a diagram) – Be brief.
• Then write a single, concise summary paragraph from your points.
• Make sure all key information is included.
• Make sure any irrelevant information is ignored.
• Acknowledge the source of the article at the end of the summary.
The examiners will want to know HOW you
went about this task
By going through
the process
described on the
previous slide you
will have
something
concrete to
describe.
Article Analysis Introduction – PRACTICE
Read the 2 practice articles I have given you
Can you summarise them?
Suggested Summary – Article 1 on handout
Article 1 describes a real case where after a rape the victim identifies her
attacker because he was bald, shirtless and Hispanic. Infact he was the
only bald, shirtless man in the line up set up by the police. The victim
chose that person when looking across a dimly lit parking lot and sitting
in a patrol car.This was an impromptu line-up and there was no proper
lighting. The article and the man’s lawyers claim that the line-up
procedures were flawed and the man wrongly convicted because of this.
The article mentions reforms in some USA State laws because of such
flaws being highlighted, though it says that Florida is not responding to
the claims of miscarriages of justice because of flawed line-ups.
Article Analysis Introduction
Suggested Summary – Article 2 on handout
Article 2 shows how courts are responding to research findings in areas
such as eyewitness testimony. Guidelines are suggested to make sure
police can provide evidence about the situation at the time of the
identification and what was said to the witness. This might help to show
that there was no influencefrom leading questions. Police now have to
give written evidence about the procedures at the time of the
identification. If they cannot, then the identification is not admissible in
the court.
What theories, research or concepts can we
draw on?
• Weapon focus
• Leading questions
• Post event information
• Interview technique
• Flashbulb memory
• Reconstructive memory
• Loftus and Palmer (1974)
• Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
• Pickel (1998)
• Pezdek (2004) – Flashbulb
and New York
• Wise (2003) – judges not
aware that EWT is unreliable
• Roper and Shewan (2002)
– suggestible to leading questions
Article Analysis Practical
Applying concepts and research findings to the summaries:
• Both the articles mention how laws have followed research
findings, for example, to make line-up procedures more secure.
• This underlines the importance of this key issue as an application
of research, and in one of the articles a real case study is given
where a man is imprisoned on the basis of eyewitness testimony
and released (after 23 years) on the basis of the unreliability of
that testimony.
Article Analysis Practical
• Elizabeth Loftus, since the 1970s, has carried out a lot of
research in the area of eyewitness testimony, including showing
that leading questions can affect what someone says about
an event. In a well-known study in 1974, Loftus and Palmer
showed that simply changing a verb when asking questions can
guide someone’s judgement about a situation. Students judged
the speed of a car involved in an accident as being faster when
the car was described as ‘smashing’ into another car than when
the car was described as ‘hitting’ the other car.
• Also, in another study, it was found that if asked about ‘a’ broken
headlight a participant was less likely to mention seeing broken
glass than if asked about ‘the’ broken headlight
• What concept / theory could we link in here?
Article Analysis Practical
• This is what is being referred to when in the second article it is
said that police must write down dialogue in case suggestions
guide any identification.
• Another factor that has been said to affect eyewitness
identification is the emotions at the time. Valence, which is the
importance of the event for the eyewitness in terms of emotion,
seems to affect memory in a U curve as the Yerkes Dodson law
shows (relationship between performance and arousal ~
The first article seems to say that the victim identified her attacker
very close to the time of the rape. Emotion can heighten recall but
too much can reduce accuracy. Here the emotions were likely to
be sufficient, with stress, to reduce accuracy.
What theory or concept or even research could you mention here?
Article Analysis Practical
What else could we link these articles to?
Post event info?
Reconstructive memory?
Interview technique?
Any other research?
Article Analysis Practical
Reminder of how to Summarise:
• Read the whole thing first (or you can’t see the wood for the trees).
• Then go back and highlight the main points.
• Then list the key points (or draw a diagram) – Be brief.
• Then write a single, concise summary paragraph from your points.
• Make sure all key information is included.
• Make sure any irrelevant information is ignored.
• Acknowledge the source of the article at the end of the summary.
Task
• On the Blog are the 2 articles you
need to summarise for the
practical
• You have lesson 3 this week to
work on them
• Please use your time wisely
• The room is open for you – I will
be here to answer questions
• If you want to bring party food
please do
• If you want to come and watch
criminal minds with me please do
Have a lovely Christmas… 
• Homework is:
• Revise for mocks
• Complete practical
• Ensure that you have all
crime and health
consolidated, reading
completed and notes full!