For the first article critique, read the article found at this link:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23882390
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23901027

Stage 1: Identify Key Points

Who is the "lead" author?

Read the abstract and paraphrase it using 2 sentences.

What is the research question, and what type of question is it?

Describe the research design.

What is the population of interest, and what is the sample?

Describe the key findings from the study. Did the authors make claims of causation? If so, is it appropriate to do so? If not, indicate how the study would have needed to change in order for the authors to make claims of causation. Your response should be specific to this study, rather than just listing the general requirements to claim causation.

Give an APA style full citation for this article.

Stage 2: Evaluate and Critique

Evaluate how well the research design matches the research question.

Evaluate how well the sample was selected.

Evaluate how well the sample represents the population. Critique both the sample size AND the methods for recruitment and selection. Indicate how you would improve upon the sample selection.

Critique the research design and indicate how you would improve the design.