Overview
Journal Article Evaluation and Critique Guidelines
DUE by November 28 11:59pm submitted on Canvas You must select THREE related research articles in social psychology focusing on a social network topic/issue that pertains to socialization or self/identity. That means “networks” should appear in the title/abstract of each article. To be clear, social media or social networking sites are not interpersonal networks (see week 1 lectures). It may be helpful to add an additional description, such as "social network size" ("composition", "changes") to your search term. NOTE: You must include with your report a copy-paste of the title page with the abstract for each article (3 in all; a screenshot works best). Do NOT copy/paste or type in the text of the abstract. Papers will NOT be graded without these. Suggested length for the paper is 8-10 pages, typed, double-spaced (12-point font, 1” margins) not including the title pages, with page numbers and headings. Late papers will not be accepted unless the course policies are followed (see syllabus). SELECTED JOURNALS The journals on the following list are strongly recommended, but others may be approved by special consent: Social Networks / Social Psychology Quarterly / Journal of Personality and Social Psychology / Journal of Social Psychology / Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin / American Sociological Review / American Journal of Sociology / Social Forces / Journal of Social and Personal Relationships / Journal of Applied Social Psychology / Basic and Applied Social Psychology / American Journal of Community Psychology You may use no more than one (1) of the assigned articles for the course, and articles should be published be within the last ten-fifteen years. First Read: “Appendix: How to Read a Journal Article in Social Psychology” PART 1. Selection and approval of articles. Submit the title page with the abstract for each of the three articles (if you include a link to the article, make sure it is active), and a paragraph describing your network (and socialization/identity) topic. You may need to re-submit if your first set does not meet the guidelines, and this must be within two days. Deadline for OPTIONAL approval submission to dropbox November 14 (11:59pm). (continued next page)
© Schuster 2023 PART 2. Evaluation and Critique You will first address each article separately (label Article #1, #2, #3). Again: copy/paste the title page with abstract for each article into your document at the end. For EACH article address the following [22 points for each article]: 1. Provide the author, year, title, and citation, using standard ASA/APA style. Describe the research question/hypothesis under investigation. [2] 2. Which of the four theoretical perspectives in social psychology is the author using [4]? You need to be explicit about WHY you think the theoretical model used in the paper is drawn from one of the main perspectives. 3. Briefly (!) describe the sample and the research design/type of data. What were the major findings; was the hypothesis supported? [4] 4. What do YOU think of the quality of the research reported? Do you think the author’s reported theoretical findings are a valid interpretation of the data (why/not)? What does the research contribute to your understanding of networks and socialization/identity (be specific)? [6] 5. What might you do differently if you wanted to replicate (or improve) this study? What alternative theoretical perspective might you take? Why? How would the study (hypothesis, data) differ as a result? [6] THEN, the CRUCIAL essay section synthesizes the articles and should address these questions: 6. How are the articles complementary and/or contradictory? Compare and contrast the perspectives and research designs. If the findings are in conflict, which makes the stronger argument or provides stronger evidence, and why? What more do you understand about the issue by combining the approach and findings of the articles together? [34]