Roughly speaking, we could divide scholarly articles into two broad categories (there are probably many more categories): empirical research papers and review articles. An empirical research paper describes original research that has been conducted in the study (i.e., the researchers are publishing their findings for the first time). A review paper describes many published research studies on a particular topic. For this assignment, you will be reviewing an empirical research paper.
Locate an empirical peer-reviewed research article related to etiology or treatment of one of the substance use disorders or sexual dysfunctions addressed in the textbook (Butcher, Mineka, & Hooley, 2014).
Complete a three- to four-page paper (not including the cover and reference pages) that summarizes the research article.
These are some points that you need to discuss in your review:
Explain the research question (what are the researchers hoping to answer).
Describe the study (where did they get their sample, how did they conduct the research)
Describe the research findings.
Do you have confidence in the researchers’ findings (i.e., were there critical flaws in the study design, questions of confounds that might have occurred in the study)?
Does the study generalize to other people that were not the subject of the research (e.g., college student study generalizing to everyone, study in the US applying to other cultures)?
What does the study mean in the big picture and how does it apply to society in general (i.e., how does it impact society in general)?
