Critiquing the Methods Section of Research Articles- Evaluating Sample Selection, Target Population, and Data Collection

Critiquing the Methods Section of Research Articles- Evaluating Sample Selection, Target Population, and Data Collection

Notes

Ferguson et al. (2014) conducted a study on the influence that peers, social media, and television have on life satisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and body dissatisfaction among young adolescent girls from a university and the local community. The authors provide sufficient information to facilitate the reliability and replication of the sample used. Do you need help with your assignment ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com.

Description of Everything Observed or That Can Be Remembered

The target population was young adolescent girls. The sample used is a true reflection of this as the sample is composed of teens. By using teenage girls, the authors will be able to generalize to the target population. The sample size used was 237 (Ferguson et al., 2014).

Analysis

The authors used snowball sampling from members of a university and the local community. This method is not random and is likely to result in bias. However, this method was considered effective because it enabled the researchers to reach underrepresented subgroups, hence making it possible to have a heterogeneous sample. The authors also obtained the relevant information from both the teens and their parents so as to lessen the probability of single-responder bias effects. Furthermore, parental and teen consent was obtained prior to participating in the study.

Reflection

Snowball sampling is a non-probabilistic type of sampling where researchers ask participants to help them identify other probable subjects (Etikan, Alkassim & Abubakar, 2016). This type makes obtaining samples easier but is subject to sampling bias. The authors obtained information from both the teens and their parents so as to lessen the effects of single-responder bias. Information on age, eating disorder symptoms, body dissatisfaction, child anxiety as well as child depressive symptoms were obtained. The authors also obtained information on verbal abuse, family violence, and perceptions of parenting styles. In addition, they also obtained data on parental love, peer competition, exposure to social media, and the thin ideal in television.

References

Etikan, I., Alkassim, R., & Abubakar, S. (2016). Comparison of snowball sampling and sequential sampling technique. Biometrics and Biostatistics International Journal, 3(1), 55.

Ferguson, C. J., Muñoz, M. E., Garza, A., & Galindo, M. (2014). Concurrent and prospective analyses of peer, television and social media influences on body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms and life satisfaction in adolescent girls. Journal of youth and adolescence, 43(1), 1-14.

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FIELD NOTES

Each note should be composed of four parts:

Notes
Description of everything observed, or that can be remembered
Analysis
Reflection
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

As you go through this week in your day-to-day life, find a couple of research articles and critique the following section of the article:

Methods

Who participated in the study? Are there enough details provided for you to identify a similar sample if you were to replicate it?

Critiquing the Methods Section of Research Articles- Evaluating Sample Selection, Target Population, and Data Collection

Who was the target population, and do the samples/participants reflect it? Based on the information provided, will the author(s) be able to generalize to the target population?
What was the procedure for selecting the sample? Is there a bias in selecting the participants based on the sampling technique?
Where was the data collected, and how?
The weekly entries will be marked as complete/incomplete. However, the instructor may provide feedback on your entries. You’ll submit your completed journal at the end of the course for a final grade.

All assignments combined are 25% of your final course grade.