Overview of

the Research
Process
& Critical Reading Strategies

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Learning Objectives
1) Describe critical thinking &
reading strategies associated with
reading research articles.
2) Identify levels of evidence.
3) Identify the steps of the research
process.
4) Identify the format & style of
research articles.
5) Apply critical reading strategies to
a research article.
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Resources
 Davis, B., & Logan, J. (2021). Reading research: A user-
friendly guide for health professionals (7th ed.). Elsevier
 Singh, M., Thirsk, L., Stahlke, S., Venkatesaperumal, R,
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Harber, J. (2022). LoBiondo-Wood
and Harber’s nursing research in Canada: Methods,
critical appraisal, and utilization (5 th ed.). Elsevier

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Overcoming Apprehension…
 There is no doubt that SOME people will think that research articles
are too difficult, technical, frustrating, and/or boring

….But the best way to

become a knowledgeable
consumer of research is to
use critical thinking &
critical reading skills when
you read research articles

….it will take time, patience, & practice just like all of
your other disciplinary skills
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Critiquing Research Articles
Requires both
critical thinking & critical reading skills

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Brainstorming Question?
 How can the integration of critical thinking and critical reading skills
enhance the ability to identify and evaluate potential biases in
research articles effectively?
Critical Thinking
The rational examination of ideas, inferences, assumptions,
principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, beliefs, statements,
& actions

Critical thinking includes:

The art of being able to

Thinking that displays a improve your thinking Requires consciously
Systematic mastery of the criteria (clearer, more accurate, reflecting about your
understanding of the for critiquing research or more defensible) by own thoughts & what
research process & evidence-informed clarifying what you you say, write, read, or
practice understand & what you do
do not know

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  Critical reading includes:

Critical Reading  Attempts by the reader to enter into the point

of view of the writer

 Understanding the research process

 An active, intellectually
engaging process in  Actively looking for:
 Assumptions [supposedly true or accepted
which the reader statements that are not actually supported
participates in an inner by research or scientific evidence]
dialogue with the writer  Key concepts & ideas
 Reasons & justifications
 Supporting examples
 Implications & consequences
Process of Critical
Reading
Anticipate 3-6 reads as you:

 Identify concepts
 Clarify unfamiliar terms
 Question assumptions
 Determine supporting evidence

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Process of Critical Reading

 Involves levels of understanding that allows you to critically assess a

study’s validity:

 Preliminary
 Comprehensive
 Analysis
 Synthesis

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 The purpose of preliminary stage is to familiarize
yourself with the article

1. Stages of Scan or skim article to get familiar with its content

Critical Reading: The title should give a good sense of the main
purpose of the study

The abstract should provide a brief overview of

Preliminary the study; introduces the main components

Understanding Highlight key terms & steps in the process

Look up unfamiliar terms

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2. Stages of Critical Reading: Comprehensive Understanding

 The purpose of the comprehensive stage is to understand the research purpose or intent

 Difficulty may arise if cannot read at comprehension level (i.e. do not understand the terms in
relation to the study’s context or whether terms used appropriately)

 At this stage trying to:

 Understand main points at each step of research process
 Identify main theme of article
 Begin to clarify concepts

 This stage prepares you to analyze & synthesize the material

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3. Stages of Critical Reading: Analysis
 The purpose of analysis is to break content into parts to
understand each aspect of study & to begin critiquing process
 Critique involves objectively & critically evaluating the
content of research report for:
o Scientific merit
o Application to practice, theory, & education

 Critiquing criteria = the standards, evaluation guidelines or

question by which to judge
 Each step of the research process must be judged using the
criteria
 Critique does not just = weaknesses; strengths should also be
acknowledged
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 The purpose of synthesis is to pull all
information together to form a new whole that
explains rel’ns

4. Stages of Decide (judge) how well study meets critiquing

criteria & how useful research findings are
Critical
Reading: Decide how well each step of the research
process relates to the previous step (is the
Synthesis research logical & coherent?)

Completing this task is essential to be able to

compare & synthesize findings from several
studies

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Overall…
 Developing critical reading skills will enable
you to complete a successful critique

 After reading & critiquing a research study can

you answer:

 Does the study form a comprehensive

picture?
 What is the level of evidence provided?
 How can the evidence be applied?
 Would you use findings from this research to
inform your practice?

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Developing Skills
 Critical thinking & critical reading
skills can be further developed by
learning the research process

 Throughout this course you will

learn about qualitative research
processes that will help you to
critique research

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Steps to Evidence-Informed Practice
Critical reading

Critical thinking

Read widely

Understand scientific principles

Be an intelligent consumer of knowledge

Can develop evidence-informed interventions

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Steps to Develop
Evidence-Informed Interventions

 First step: Be able to critically read the literature

 Research articles

 Clinical articles

 Clinical guidelines

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Levels of Evidence
 Evidence-informed practice (EIP) allows you to systematically use the best
available evidence with the integration of individual clinical expertise &
patients’ values & preference in making decisions

 In addition to deciding how well a study was designed & executed, part of
critiquing a study includes deciding which level of evidence a research article
provides

 Important to be familiar with levels of evidence b/c commonly referenced

 There are several types of evidence hierarchies

 Rating system for the hierarchy of evidence is proposed to judge the strength of
the study’s design & hence to confidence in the conclusions made
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Levels of Evidence con’t
3 dimensions for grading levels of evidence

1. Quality: the extent to which a study’s design, conduct, &

analysis minimize bias

2. Quantity: the # studies that have evaluated the research

question (cumulative of sample size & strength of findings)

3. Consistency: is the degree to which studies have similar &

different designs but investigate the same research questions &
report similar findings

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 Challenges for Health Research
 Use of hierarchies assumes that RCTs are gold standard

 Many qualitative scholars argue that the criteria to judge levels of evidence unfairly judge the
significance of qualitative findings, devalue the contributions to be made, & may discourage
researchers from exploring imp research questions that are answered through qualitative research
approaches

 Argue that answers provided by qualitative data reflect imp evidence about particular phenomenon,
client populations, clinical situations…

 Some argue that the level of evidence does not reveal the full worth of the study but serves as a tool to
judge the strength of study designs

 You will need to make up your own mind

… but most important is to be able to defend
your position
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Twelve Steps in the Health Research Journey

2. Narrow the topic

1. Identify and 3. Review the 4. Read the research 5. Formulate a
and ask research
choose a topic literature literature hypothesis
questions

6. Seek funding 8. Protect human

7. Design the study 9. Collect the data 10. Analyze the data
opportunities subjects

11. Report the 12. Build on the

results results

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 Step 1: Step 2:

Choose a Topic Narrow the Topic

• No single way to choose a • Narrowing the topic means
general topic for a research gaining the focus needed to
study; general research topics design & implement a research
may emerge from: study
• Choose a topic of interest & a
o personal or professional specific research question that
experiences you passionately want answered
o interaction with peers • A narrow focus helps to define
o published resources – the topic & research question &
journals; texts also determine whether the
o research agendas or priorities topic can be feasibly studied
set by organizations & • Reading literature about topic
funding agencies can help to narrow the focus

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Step 3:
 Locate & Review the Literature
 After a clear research question has been
developed the next step is to find out what is
already known about the topic
 Many places to search including:
 databases, websites, manual searches
journals; librarians are trained to assist with
identifying words & places to search
 Looking to determine if others have studied &
published on the topic
 Investigate published research
 The literature review can help to refine the
significance of the study & determine the
feasibility of a research
 Step 4: Step 5:

Read the research Literature Formulate a Question

• The research literature must • Findings from the literature
be organized into review should reveal what is
meaningful segments for known abut the research
reading question & may lead to 1 of 3
• Guidelines are used to conclusions:
evaluate the value of the 1.There is little known
research articles 2.What is known is inconclusive
(or contradictory)
3.What is known is reasonably
conclusive

• Pose a question that remains

unanswered

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 Step 6:
Seek Funding
Opportunities

Research funding can be

sought from a variety of
sources & can range from a
few hundred to millions of
dollars; there is research
funding available for student
researchers … including
undergraduate students

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 Design the Study
• The study design is like a road map of how the study will be conducted; the
study is designed to answer the research question; therefore, the research
Step 7: question is an important determinant in the choice of design
• There are many study designs (which will be described in later classes) – (e.g.
phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory, etc.)

Protect Human Subjects

• Ethical approval is sought after a study’s methods have been developed, but
before the study’s plan has been implemented
• There are different bodies and will be different requirements for the ethical
Step 8: bodies that will be required for ethical approval of a study
• Main reason for ethical approval = to protect the subjects & ensure there is
informed consent

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Step 9:
 Find Participants & Collect Data
 Different research methods require different ways
of locating participants & collecting data

 Potential subjects can be found & recruited in

various settings: (e.g., hospitals, clinics,
organizations, community agencies, etc) or
 contacted in different ways: (e.g. advertising, letters
of invitation, third party recruitment)

 Data collection instruments must be developed &

piloted such as interview guides.
Step 10: Analyze the Data

 Study question & design determines the appropriate analysis

 A qualitative analysis includes identifying themes or

interpreting meanings (a quantitative analysis includes the
use of statistical tests designed to indicate whether a finding
is significant)

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 Step 11: Step 12:

Report the Results Build on the Results

• Researchers have a • Reviewing & analyzing
responsibility to disseminate the published research studies
findings provides evidence to improve
• Different audiences (e.g., client care outcomes & also
participants, other health serve as the impetus for future
professionals, administrators, research studies
policy makers)
• Different ways results can be • Health professionals at all
shared (e.g., publications, oral educational levels and in many
& poster presentations, roles & practice settings can
newsletters, etc.) participate in research in
• Need to consider the reach of capacities!
your audience at local, sub-
national, national, &
international levels

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 All journals have common features…but may also have unique specifications

Research
Articles: Remember space limitations or publishing guidelines means the journal is a shortened

Format &
version of the complete work [so be careful of making assumptions ]

Style
Amount of info presented on each step of the research process bound by:

An individual researcher’s
They type or nature of the
Journal’s space limitations A journals author guidelines evaluation of the most imp
study
component of the study

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Components of the
Research Manuscript:
Abstract
A short, comprehensive synopsis or summary of the
study [50 to 300 words] (structured or unstructured)

Appears at the beginning & articulates the main

points of the study

Should be accurate, self-contained, concise, specific,

non-evaluative, coherent, and readable

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Literature Review
& Theoretical
Framework
 Presented in different ways; not uncommon to
have LR & theoretical framework merged into
one section
 May be called literature review; theoretical
framework; related literature, background, etc.
 Look for main concepts investigated
 In some cases, the research question will follow
from the literature review

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Identification Usually labeled as intro; presents
of the research problem & purpose & often the
research questions
Research
Problem,
Purpose, & Presented in different ways … but in
Question end should describe the problem & the
need for the research & the question to
be answered

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 Research Design
 Can be identified in different sections of manuscript including
abstract, intro, &/or methods section

 Need to identify the design as this will determine the

evaluative criteria to be used for critiquing

 Not always explicit … need to look for words or concepts that

will reveal the design [i.e. words like lived experience,
participant observation, etc.]
Sampling
 Found in methods section; might have a sub-heading of
“participants” “sample”

 Who was involved, why & how they were chosen, & #
involved should be clear
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Ethical
Considerations
Procedures for Data
Collection
 Describes step-by-step the way the researchers
used to answer the research question

 Usually includes the types of methods used,

how they used them, etc (conducted face-to-
face interviews lasting 60 minutes with 40
people…)

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Data Analysis
 The methods for analyzing data often
appear in the methods section but may
not be apparent until the findings or
results section
 Usually describes the processes for
arriving at themes

Trustworthiness
 Discussion about the steps taken to
ensure trustworthiness
 Included in the methods
Brain Storming Questions
What are some common steps involved in analyzing interviews and
observations in qualitative research
Discussion
 Last section of the manuscript; sometimes
results & discussion presented together
(depends on methodology)
 Ties together the pieces of the study; may explain the
findings; brings in other literature to support arguments made

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Recommendations & Implications
 Often recommendations are made for practice,

education, policy, & future research

References
 All references cited in the research article are included at the end;
the main purpose is to support the material presented by identifying
the sources in a manner that allows easy retrieval

Communicating Results
 Traditionally take the form of a research article, poster, or paper
presentation … however more creative ways include plays, use of
art, theatre, etc.
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