Reading a Research Article

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology ▪ proprietary and confidential information ▪ all rights reserved

Reading Reasearch Articles

Rarely will you ever read straight through a paper in a linear fashion - from introduction to the discussion section.

You may start out this way, but as you get into the paper, you will find it necessary to go back and recheck some of the details.

For example, in the midst of the methods section you may jump ahead to the results section (“ Did they really keep all of the subjects in the study who were enrolled at the beginning?”) or in the middle of reading about the results, you may return to the Introduction section (“What did the authors say the purpose was?”).

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The Chicago School of Professional Psychology ▪ proprietary and confidential information ▪ all rights reserved

Reading (continued)

As you read these papers, keep a running dialogue with yourself about what the researchers intended to do, what they really did, what they reported they found, and what they actually found.

This double checking is important. Do not assume anything, and do not give any author of a research paper the benefit of the doubt.

In reviewing the literature, the best attitude is to be methodologically suspicious and ever doubtful. 

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