The document provides guidance on how to critically appraise research studies and articles. It discusses evaluating key aspects of research such as the problem statement, objectives, hypotheses, conceptual framework, literature review, research design, sampling, data collection methods, and ethical considerations. Criteria are provided to assess each component, such as whether the problem is clearly defined, objectives are measurable, sampling and data collection methods are appropriate, and participant rights are protected. Recommended sources on nursing research and critiques are also listed.

1. CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF
RESEARCHSTUDIES

2. INTRODUCTION
• The nursing profession continually strives for
evidence-based practice, which includes
critiquing studies, synthesizing the findings
and applying the scientific evidence in practice
• Thus, critiquing research is an essential step
toward basing your practice on empirical
evidence.

3. DEFINITION
• Critique is a careful judgment in which you
give your opinion about the good and bad
parts of something (such as a piece of writing
or a work of art).
Merriam- Webster Learner's Dictionary

4. • A research critique is a systematic, unbiased, careful
examination of all aspects of a study to judge the merits,
limitations, meaning and significance based on previous
research experience and knowledge of the topic.
Burns N. and Grove S, 2005
• A research critique is a critical appraisal of a research study
that has been systematically reviewed based on some known
criteria.
Cherly T Beck

7. PROBLEM
STATEMENT AND
PURPOSE

8. • What is the problem and/ or purpose of the research study?
• Is the problem statement clearly and concisely articulated? Is it
appropriately stated?
• Does the problem statement clearly depict the variables,
population and place of the study?
• Does the title indicate the type of study conducted- descriptive,
corelational, quasi-experimental/ experimental?
• Does the problem or purpose statement express a relationship
between two or more variables, e.g., between an independent
and a dependant variable? If so, what is/ are the relationship?
Are they testable?

9. • Does the problem statement and/ or purpose specify the nature
of the population being studied? What is it?
• Is the research problem within the professional domain?
• What significance of the problem has been identified, if any,
by the investigator?
• Is the problem not complex to study and appropriately
delimited in its scope?
• Is the research problem feasible to study in reference to time,
resources, researcher's ability and availability of respondents,
facility and equipment; ethical considerations?
• Is the research problem directed to develop or test the nursing
theories?

11. • Are the objectives in accordance with the
research problem?
• Are the objectives stated in clear and concise
form?
• Are the objectives stated using accepted action
verbs in logical manner?

12. HYPOTHESES

13. • Are the hypotheses stated? If not, does the researcher provide
sufficient information for not stating the hypothesis?
• Are hypotheses logically related with the research problem and
objectives?
• If stated, are the hypotheses clear? Specific? Testable?
• Whether hypotheses is stated in measurable terms by stating
the level of significance (P=0.05) to accept or reject the
hypotheses?
• Are hypotheses stated in a way that they express a predicted
relationship between two or more variables?
• Are hypotheses based on conceptual framework used in
research study?

15. • Is the conceptual framework appropriate and in
accordance with the research problem?
• Is conceptual framework based on a nursing theory or
a theory from other related disciplines?
• Are all the concepts in conceptual framework clearly,
adequately and logically defines and articulated in a
way that they help either in the testing or generation
of a theory?

17. • What concepts are included in the review?
• Does the literature reviews make explicit the relationships
among the variable or place?
• Is the literature completely in accordance with research
problem and covers majority of available studies on the topic
under study?
• Is the literature review thorough and detailed?
• Is the literature reviewed from the current and primary
sources- that is, has the literature been published within the
last 5 years?

18. • Are the majority of sources primary or secondary?
• Is the literature review well organized under subheadings in a
chronological order according to the year of the study?
• Is the literature review presented in an analytical way to draw
meaningful inferences?
• Does the literature review provide a solid basis for the new
study?
• Are there benchmark publications?

20. • Is the design specified correctly? What was the
design used?
• Is the design appropriate to answer the research
questions?
• Did the researcher attempt to control for threats to
internal and external validity?

22. • Is the sample size adequate?
• Is the sampling method adequate to produce a representative
sample?
• What are the potential biases in the sampling method?
• Are the criteria for including and/ or excluding people or items
from the sample clear and appropriate? Are any subjects
excluded from the study because of age, socioeconomic status/
ethnicity without sound rationale?
• Is an appropriate sampling technique used to draw a sample
from the population?
• Was sample attrition a problem?

24. • Are the instruments or other means for data collection
described sufficiently?
• Are the reliability and validity of the instruments addressed?
Are these adequate?
• Are data collection methods described clearly?
• Are the data collection methods appropriate? Could the
researcher mentioned the specific benefits and problems faced
by the research with particular methods of data collection?
• Is the data collection process conducted in a consistent
manner?

25. • Are the instruments clearly described?
• Are techniques to complete and score the
instruments provided?
• Are validity and reliability of the instruments
described?
• Did the researcher reexamine the validity and
reliability of instruments for the present
sample?
• If the instrument was developed for the study, is
the instrument development process described?
Scales and Questionnaires

26. • Is what to be observed clearly identified and defined?
• Is interrater reliability described?
• Are the techniques for recording observations described?

27. Interviews
• Do the interview questions address
concerns expressed in the research
problem?
• Are the interview questions relevant for
the research purpose and objectives,
questions or hypotheses?
• Does the design of the questions tend to
bias subject responses?
• Does the sequence of questions tend to
bias subject responses?

28. Physiological Measures
• Are the physiological measures/ instruments clearly described?
• Are the accuracy, precision and error of the physiological
instruments discussed?
• Are the physiological measures appropriate for the research
purpose and objectives, questions/ hypotheses?
• Are the methods for recording data from the physiological
measures clearly described? Is the recording of the data
consistent?

30. • Are the participants safe from any physical harms, risks,
psychological and social distress and discomfort?
• Was the study designed to minimize risks and maximize
benefits to participants?
• Is confidentiality of information and anonymity of the
information maintained?
• Was an appropriate written or verbal consent taken from the
study participants?
• Was a written permission obtained from the competent
authority to conduct the research study?

32. Statement of the
phenomenon of
interest

33. • Is the phenomenon of interest clearly identified?
• Were the clinical problem and research problem explicitly
stated?
• Has the researcher identified why the phenomenon requires
qualitative design for study?
• Are the philosophical underpinnings of the study described?
• Does the problem have a significance for nursing?

34. PURPOSE AND
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS

35. • Is the purpose of conducting the research made explicit?
• Were the research questions related to the problem and
purpose?
• Were qualitative methods appropriate to answer the research
questions?

36. REVIEWOF
LITERATURE &
THEORITICAL
FRAMEWORK

37. • Did the author cite quantitative and qualitative studies relevant
to the focus of the study? What other types of literature did the
author include?
• Are the references current?
• Did the author valuate or indicate the weaknesses of the
available studies?
• Did the literature reviews include adequate synthesized
information to build a logical argument?

39. PROTECTION OF
PARTICIPANTS RIGHTS
• Were appropriate procedures used to safeguard the rights of
the study participants?
• Were the study designed to minimize risks and maximize
benefited to participants?

40. RESEARCH DESIGN
• Is the method used to collect data compatible with the purpose
of the research?
• Is the method adequate to address the phenomenon of interest?
• If a particular approach is used to guide the inquiry, does the
researcher complete the study according to the processes
described?
• Was an adequate amount of time spent in the field or with the
study participants?

41. SAMPLING
• Does the researcher describe the selection of participants? Is
the particular method appropriately given?
• Are the informants who were chosen appropriate to inform the
research?
• Was the sample size adequate? Was saturation achieved?

42. DATA COLLECTION
• Were the methods of gathering the data appropriate? Were data gathered
through two or more methods to achieve triangulation?
• Is data collection focused on human experiences?
• Does the researcher describe the data collection strategies (i.e. interview,
Observation, field notes)?
• Did the researcher ask the right questions or make the right observations
and were they recorded in an appropriate fashion?
• Was a sufficient amount of data gathered? was the data of sufficient depth
and richness?

44. • Grove, S., Burns, N., Gray, J. (2013). The Practice of Nursing Research.
(7th ed). Missouri: Elsevier.
• Polit, D., Beck, C. (2010). Essentials of Nursing Research. (7th ed).
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
• Wood, G., Haber, J. (2010). Nursing Research. (7th ed). Missouri: Mosby
Elsevier.
• Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2008). Understanding Nursing Research (4 ed.).
Missouri: Saunders.

45. • Parahoo, K. (2006).Nursing research. (2nd ed). S.l.: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Sharma, S. (2012). Nursing Research and Statistics. Haryana: Elsevier.
• Brockopp, D., Hastings-Tolsma, M..(2003). Fundamentals of Nursing
Research.( 3rd ed). Boston: Jones & Bartlett.
• Kaplan, L. (2012). Reading and critiquing a research article. American
Nurse Today, 7(10).