Article Reading Assignment

Article Reading Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to read a research article (Seli et al., 2019) in detail, write a full summary and begin to critique the article.  Seli et al. (2019) studied the relationship of depression, anxiety and stress with intentional and unintentional mind wandering.

Start by reading the first sentence of every paragraph in the entire paper.  This strategy reveals the most important parts of the study – purpose, hypothesis, method, statistics, results and conclusions – and provides structure for a detailed reading.

Next, read the questions for the introduction, read the introduction and note the answers as you find them.  Do the same for all four main sections of the article.

Finally, write the summary of the full article.Use APA format for the page layout (1” margins, 12 point font, double space between all lines, and no extra spaces between paragraphs). Write in full paragraphs and include details from the article but without using wording directly from the article or repeating the questions.  Cite the article once in the beginning of the summary using the exact APA format demonstrated in the first paragraph of these instructions. The grade depends on how well you describe the research in your own words and how well you follow APA format for citations and layout.

Detailed Summary

This summary will include some detail and be no more than 2 pages long.  Write in normal paragraphs and incorporate the answers to as many of the questions in each section as you can.  Not all the questions will work for every article.

1. Reading the Introduction 
   • Identify the main topic of the study.
   • Why was the research done?
   • What was the goal or purpose of the research? [Hint: do not summarize their entire rationale for doing their study, instead simply describe their main goal].
   • How does this study increase knowledge about the area of study?
   • If they tested a specific theory, describe it briefly.
   • Describe the hypotheses or research questions.
2. Reading the Method [Correlational Study]

[HINT: Keep a list of variable names while you read so you understand their abbreviations]

1. • Very briefly, describe the participants (describe this without using any numbers).
   • What constructs or variables were measured [ignore demographic information like age and gender]?
   • How were the variables operationally defined? [This is the most important information]
   • Were the participants treated ethically?
   • If you were a participant in the study, could you figure out what the study was about and maybe influence the results?
   • Was there anything else you needed to know about the method and procedures?
   • How well do you think the goals or purpose of the study was met by their method

3. Reading the Results

Before writing a summary of the result, be sure you understand the variables – describe what the highest score possible on each variable tells us about a person. If that is not clear, re-read the method section and be sure you understand the main variables.

Summarize the results section as clearly as possible using these questions as a guide.  Only include the results that you determine to be the most important.  Do not include ANY numbers– just use words to describe their results.

HINT: Use Tables as well as the text. Read the Title of the Table, then the Note below the Table and look for any significant effects.

1. Descriptive statistics [Table 1]

• Identify the types of descriptive statistics measured in the study.
• Using Table 1, and without using any numbers, describe the participants’ behaviors and characteristics.  For example, how much did they mind wander and how depressed were they?

  2. Correlational statistics [Table 2]

• Name the correlational statistic used in the analyses.
• Describe two statistically significant correlations between mind wandering and an emotion that you find interesting [without using any numbers]. 

3. Partial correlation coefficients [Table 3]

• Look at the same two correlations you described above – are they statistically significant in the partial correlation table? 
• Is the hypothesis supported by the data in Table 3? Explain why or why not.

4. Reading the Discussion 

•  What do the authors claim as the major finding of the study?
•  What did they find that was unexpected and how do they explain differences between what they expected and what they found?
•  What flaws or limitations do the authors discuss?
•  What are the authors’ main conclusions?