Step by Step: A Guide to Critiquing Research Part 1 Quantitative Research

The abstract should provide a succinct overview of the research and should include information regarding the purpose of the study, method, sample size and selection, the main findings and conclusions and recommendations (Conkin Dale, 2005). From the abstract the reader should be able to determine if the study is of interest and whether or not to continue reading (Parahoo, 2006) Elements Influencing Robustness Purpose of the Study / Research Problem A research problem is often first presented to the reader in the introduction to the study (Bassett and Bassett, 2003). Depending on what is to be investigated some authors will refer to the purpose of the study. In either case the statement should at least broadly indicate to the reader what is to be studied (Polit and Beck, 2006). Broad problems are often multi-faceted and will need to become narrower and more focused before they can be researched. In this the literature review can play a major role (Parahoo, 2006)