Knowledge Check: Summarizing a Research Article

Knowledge Check: Summarizing a Research Article

As you continue in your doctoral program, you will develop the skills to understand the entire research article. At this point, however, you want to focus on certain sections.
The names for these sections will vary, but the standard format for a peer-reviewed research article is:
– Abstract
– Introduction & Background
– Methodology
– Results
– Discussion
– References
Please note: if the article you found does not have these sections, even if it is in a peer-reviewed journal (e.g., a letter to the editor, theoretical piece, or a literature review), then it is not an appropriate article for this assessment. Dissertations are not appropriate either since they have not undergone the peer-review process.
The key article sections to focus on for this assessment are:
– Abstract
– Introduction & Background
– Discussion 
– References
The abstract provides an overview of the entire article, including:
– Research question (purpose of the study)
– Methodology (how the data was collected and analyzed)
– Results (significant findings/themes)
At this point, you want to ensure that you have a general understanding of the research question, methodology, and results, which are provided in a concise manner in the abstract. As you continue your training, you will be able to understand the methodology and results in more detail: for this course, you just need a general understanding, so focus on the information provided in the abstract.
Please answer these questions about your article:

1. What is the purpose of the study (i.e., the research question)?
2. How did they collect and analyze the data (i.e., the methodology)?
3. What did they find (were the results statistically significant or what were the themes)?
4. Make a list of three key points in the introduction.
5. Make a list of three key points in the discussion.

Writing Skills
Now that you have identified the key information in the article, it’s time to start writing! Most people think of writing as literally taking pen to paper or typing on your laptop/tablet. They assume that they can transfer the thoughts from their head onto the page and be done. 
Writing is more complex because you have to both organize your thoughts and have the skills to put them in writing. There are two aspects of writing:
– Mechanics: grammar, punctuation, APA format
– Organization: presenting your ideas in an order that enhances understanding
If the mechanics are off, it can be difficult to understand the writing. If the ideas are not clearly presented, the writing is incomprehensible.
Writing mechanics are concepts we learn in elementary school. The challenge at the doctoral level is that many of us are rusty: elementary school was a long time ago! The good thing is that this is a skill that can be refreshed.
Mechanics
Academics try to make their writing as explicit as possible: they do not want others to misinterpret their work (unlike, say, a novelist, who may want to encourage interpretation of the writing). This means writing complex sentences, which requires a strong understanding of grammar.

– Independent Clauses: a subject and verb that express a complete thought
– Dependent Clauses: a subject and verb but the thought is incomplete
Sentence Types
• Simple sentences contain one independent clause.
Example: They wrote.
• Compound sentences have two or more independent clauses.
Example: They wrote, and they revised.
• Complex sentences have both independent and dependent clauses.
Example: After they wrote, they revised.
• Compound-complex sentences have two or more independent clauses and two or more dependent clauses.
Example: After they read many articles, the authors wrote, and they revised before one author offered to edit. 

6. Identify the independent and dependent clause(s) in the sentence: ’’When Smith and Jones (2022) identified the significant factors, they designed a new study.”
7. Identify the independent and dependent clause(s) in the sentence: “Clark and Jones (2022) developed their hypothesis before testing it, but their findings were rejected because their methodology was weak.

Make sure your subjects and verbs agree to avoid grammatical errors!
– Subject: the person, place or thing that is doing something or being 
– Verb: the subject’s action or being 
Subjects can be singular or plural; the verb must match the subject (singular or plural). Examples:
– They review the meaning of leadership.
o Subject: They (since “they” are doing the reviewing)
o Verb: review (the main action of the sentence)
– He is wild.
o Subject: He (singular form of the male pronoun)
o Verb: is (example of being vs an action)
o FYI: wild is an adjective, modifying “he”

8. Identify the subject and verb in this sentence: “Johnson, Smith, and White (2021) identifies the main cause of employee dissatisfaction.”
a) Johnson
b) main cause
c) employee dissatisfaction
d) Johnson, Smith, and White

9. Is there subject/verb agreement here? Yes or No

This assessment requires you to summarize an article, which you should be able to do in a couple of paragraphs. Paragraphs should have a single idea: the rest of the information in the paragraph should expand on that single idea.
This assessment requests specific information, and you could use that to organize your paper. That could mean:
– One paragraph about the study (its purpose, methodology, and findings) 
– One paragraph about the application of findings to a potential capstone topic
Notice that each of these paragraphs has a single point (one describes the key points of the study while the second applies the findings). You need to know the point of the paragraph before you start writing so you can determine the necessary information to include in the paragraph. 
Use the MEAL plan to structure paragraphs:
The MEAL plan includes :
M: Main Idea
This should be conveyed in the first sentence. Think about the point of the paragraph: convey that in the introductory sentence.
E: Evidence
This is the supporting information. In this assessment, it will be the information from the single article that you’re summarizing.
A: Analysis
As a doctoral level scholar, you should include your thoughts (without referring to yourself). For example, you might write something like “The findings appear to be consistent.” That is your thought, based on what you’ve read, without referring to yourself directly. 
L: Link
Either reiterate the main point of this paragraph (if it’s very important for the author to understand it) or segue to the next paragraph (if the paragraphs are closely related). 
One other thing to remember is readability: it is difficult to read a big block of text! If your paragraph is getting long, that is a good indication that the paragraph is too broad. Consider how it could be broken down into two paragraphs.

10. Write a draft of the paragraphs that you will write for the assessment.

After you finish, step away from your writing, even for just a couple of hours (a day or so is best). This will help you when you read it over again: you’re more likely to see what you actually wrote vs what you intended to write.
Ask yourself these questions: 1. Does each paragraph have an introductory sentence that accurately conveys the content of the paragraph? Could it be clearer? Revise if necessary. 2. Are there any sentences in the paragraph that aren’t relevant to the main point of the paragraph? Delete those sentences. 3. Are the paragraphs “readable”? Long blocks of text are hard to follow: if you have a long paragraph, try to condense it. If all the information is vital, then breaking it down into two related paragraphs is appropriate.