Dr. Virginia Huynh
Adapted from Helping Students Read Difficult Texts
Evaluating scholarly articles worksheet
1
Often scholarly articles can’t be fully understood by nonspecialists because we aren’t its intended audience. Authors may be writing for economists or experimental psychologists who do their research on specialized areas. As nonexpert readers, we may not understand the complex methods or statistical analysis. However, we can understand the main gist of their research. This reading guide will help you understand the article’s big picture and offer strategies for reading any complex scholarly article. Scholarly articles are often divided into four sections, though they may not be explicitly labeled:
1) Introduction
This section describes what is currently known and unknown about the topic. Authors will cite research articles that they read closely that represent the current state of knowledge regarding a specific topic. A list of these articles is provided at the end of the document so you can find these sources if they interest you.
If you are reading an empirical research article, where there is a specific research question that can be answered with data, this is also where the authors explain their hypotheses and expected results.
A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for something that can be tested. For example, one hypothesis for student success is that students who read carefully perform better on exams. One way to test this hypothesis by asking students how carefully they read (e.g., look up terms they don’t know, re-read difficult sections, take notes on the margins of texts, etc.) and collect their test scores. If our hypothesis is correct, students who report that they use strong reading strategies earn higher grades on exams.
2) Method
This is where authors describe how they conducted the study. They define the variables they are interested in, what measures they used to capture the variables, and, if applicable who participated in the study. Sometimes research is conducted with data from public records, the
U.S. Census, or other sources where people are not involved in a specific study.
3) Results
This is where authors describe the statistical analyses they used to test their hypothesis.
Sometimes, information is better presented in tables and/or figures than described in the text; be sure you look at tables and figures so you don’t miss important findings.
Focus on what you can understand; don’t worry about what you don’t understand. This section is aimed at insiders with expert knowledge of research design and statistical methods.
Note: I probably can’t understand any more than you can.
4) Discussion
This is where authors interpret their findings. They may note whether or not there were limitations to their study and what the take-home message is.
Authors are trying to convince you whether or not their hypothesis was supported.
Remember, this is only one study, and one study does not prove anything. However, several studies that find similar results provide enough evidence to convince you of their message. For example, if new research found that students who skipped class had higher IQs, would you start skipping class to increase your IQ? Or would you want to read more about the article to see exactly how they conducted the study and whether other research supports this claim?

Dr. Virginia Huynh 2
Adapted from Helping Students Read Difficult Texts
Reading Guide for What we need to get by: A basic stand of living costs $48,778, and nearly a third of families fall short
Instructions
Read the article front to back. Answer the following questions (except the last) by using details from the text and from researching online, if applicable.
About the journal
1.
What is the title of the journal, institute, or organization that published this article?
2.
What is the journal/institute/organizations’ area of interest?
About the article
1.
What are the authors’ names?
2.
What year was it published?
3.
What is the title of the article?
About the study
1.
Introduction a.
What is the general topic under investigation? b.
Restate the authors’ research question in ordinary rather than scientific language. Make this understandable to your grandma.
2.
Method (note that this is not explicitly named) a.
Look at how they define each category (e.g., housing, food, child care, etc.).
Do any of these definitions confuse or surprise you? Why?
3.
Results a.
Figure A: Look at the title of the figure, X axis (family type), Y axis (monthly family budget), and legend (describing what the colors of the bar graph means). How would you describe these findings to your grandma? b.
Figure B: What story does this graph tell? For what families? c.
Figure C: What is the main difference in family budget between the two cities? d.
Table 1: Describe what information this table provides
4.
Discussion a.
What did the authors conclude from their data? Are you convinced? b.
How does their study add to our understanding of the research question and topic under investigation? c.
Do they point out any limitations of their study? If so, what are they?
Summary
In two or three sentences, summarize the study in your own words.