1. Anatomy of a Research Article Five (or six) major sections Abstract Introduction (without a heading!) Method (and procedures) Results Discussion and conclusions References

2. Anatomy of a Research Article Abstract Purpose Subject Procedure Data analysis Results Evaluation: Is information about these major aspects of the research included?

3. Anatomy of a Research Article Introduction and background Identify the problem area Review of related Literature Purpose of the study Identify the problem area Why was the study conducted? What was the motivation for doing the study? Evaluation: Is the author’s reason for conducting the study clear?

4. Anatomy of a Research Article Introduction (continued) Review of related literature Grounds the research topic within a tradition of inquiry. Summarize relevant research results. Evaluation: Are research studies related to the problem area presented? Does the study logically extend the findings (or conclusions) from earlier studies? Purpose States specific expectations (hypotheses) to be tested. Identifies the specific questions to be answered. Evaluation: Are the research variables easily identified from the hypotheses, questions, or statement of purpose?

5. Anatomy of a Research Article Method Subjects Target population Sampling procedures Instruments Procedures Treatments Data gathering procedures Operational definitions Evaluation: Is sufficient detail provided to allow exact replication?

6. Anatomy of a Research Article Results Describes the types of procedures used to organize and analyze the data. For quantitative studies: Are sufficient descriptive statistics provided? Are the inferential statistical procedures appropriate? Were significance levels indicated? Were effect sizes provided? Were there controls for threats to internal and external validity?

7. Anatomy of a Research Article Results (continued) For qualitative studies: Are the processes for organizing data, identifying patterns and synthesizing key ideas as hypothesis and research questions clearly described? Are there multiple procedures for corroborating research evidence and researchers’ judgements?

8. Anatomy of a Research Article Conclusion or Discussion Briefly restates the purpose and results. Provides explanations of: Whether the results answered the research quesitons, How the results relate to the literature reviewed in the introduction, and The implications the results have for practitioners or other researchers. References All cited literature is referenced.

9. Anatomy of a Research Article To summarize… Major sections of a research article: Abstract Introduction Method Results Conclusion References