Social Work and Human Services

Article Critique Assignment Based on your understanding of the material presented in class and the textbook, answer each of the following questions regarding the assigned article. This assignment must be written in APA style research paper format with a cover page and reference, no abstract is needed. You are not required to cite outside references other than the textbook and the assigned article. Respond to each question individually with each question being the title/header of your paragraph (e.g. Type of Research, Research Problem, Research Question, etc.) 1. Is this study qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods? Is it exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory? Be sure to justify your answers. 2. What was the research problem identified by the researchers? In your opinion, was it clearly defined? Be sure to justify your answers. 3. What were the research question(s) and hypotheses? 4. Describe the methodology used. Is this a group research design, case-level research, or something else? Be sure to include the group research design notation (ie: O X O) with an explanation. Was randomization present? Was the methodology appropriate to the research question? Why or why not? Be sure to justify your answers. 5. What was the population that this study sample was drawn from? Describe the characteristics of the sample (ie: gender, age). What sampling method was used? Did the study used probability or non-probability sampling? Was the sampling appropriate for the research question? Why or why not? Be sure to justify your answers. 6. Described two concerns related to reliability of measurement that the researchers may have faced. Be sure to justify your answers. 7. Described three potential threats to internal validity. Be sure to justify your answers. 8. What was the conclusion of this study? Was the hypothesis confirmed or not? Are the findings generalizable beyond the study? Why or why not? 9. In your opinion, does this research contribute to social work knowledge? Do you think it is useful for social work practitioners? Why or why not?

Readings • Chapter 8 in: Krysik, J. L. (2018). Research for effective social work practice (3rd Ed.). New York: Routledge.

• Article: Mears, S. L., Yaffe, J., & Harris, N. J. (2009). Evaluation of wraparound services for severely emotionally disturbed youths. Research on Social Work Practice, 19(6), 678-685.