Journal Article Summary and Critique
The purpose of this assignment is for you to get a better idea of what sociologists do, how they conduct research, and how
they present their findings.
1. Search the library database for an academic journal article describing research on any sociological topic (Choose
a topic that interests you!). I will teach you how to find an article in class – it MUST be scholarly, and it MUST
be a description of a social science research project in order to get credit for this assignment!
How to find a journal article:
Go to: https://library.hfcc.edu
Click on “Find Articles/Databases” (in the upper left-hand corner)
I recommend using “Academic Search Elite” (you may have to login if you are off campus)
Enter your topic of interest in the search field and then select a field to search
Before you search, scroll down to the “limit your results” section
Click the boxes for:
Full text
Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals
Click “article” under “Document Type”
For “Number of Pages” select “greater than” and “5”
Click Search
Read through your results and click on a title that looks interesting.
Look at the abstract and/or full text to determine whether it describes a social science research project.
How to tell whether an article is a description of a social science research project?
– The author(s) collected data and presented the results (often in charts or tables).
– There is typically a section of the paper called “Method” or “Methods”
– The topic of the research is on human behavior or interaction…It is NOT social science if it is
addressing medical, biological, or physical science research questions.
– Your article should NOT be only theoretical, or discussion based…they must be presenting a
description of ORIGINAL research…not just a discussion of other people’s research.
– It should be 5 pages or longer. Articles typically range from 5 to 50 pages in length.
– If you cannot answer the questions below, then you have not found the right kind of article.
2. You should get instructor approval of your article prior to completing the writing part of the assignment. See the
tentative schedule for the date you should bring your information to class for instructor approval. Usually
printing the first page (which includes the title, author(s) and abstract) is enough for approval purposes.
3. Read the article, then answer all the following questions:
1. What is the question they are trying to answer or the hypothesis they are trying to test?
2. What is the research method used to collect data? (ex: interviews, survey, experiment, ethnography, etc.)
3. What are the findings/results of the study?
4. What conclusions are made based on the findings? In other words, what does this mean for society?
5. Which sociological perspective is used/assumed – Functionalist, Conflict, or Symbolic-Interactionist? Explain how
you determined this.
6. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research design?
7. If you were trying to answer the same question or test the same hypothesis, what would you have done differently if
you had unlimited resources at your disposal?
This assignment should be typed, double-spaced, with 12-point font. Make sure you include a reference page
including the article title, author(s), year, journal title, and pages (You may use MLA or APA format). Please note
that there is a difference between the “journal title” and the “article title.”
7
4. You will also be expected to summarize your article and critique to the rest of the class.