What argument is/are the author(s) making? Is it logical? Based on what you know, is it reasonable? What evidence is given to support the argument? Can you think of evidence to refute it?
Critical Review Assignment
Choose an article on one of the following topics from positive psychology (the articles were chosen to match the final assignment topics): “Can Gratitude and Kindness Interventions Enhance Well-Being in a Clinical Sample”,
Can Gratitude and Kindness Interventions Enhance Well-Being in a Clinical Sample.pdf Can Gratitude and Kindness Interventions Enhance Well-Being in a Clinical Sample.pdf – Alternative Formats
Kerr, S. L., O’donovan, A., & Pepping, C. A. (2015). Can gratitude and kindness interventions enhance well-being in a clinical sample? Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(1), 17-36.
Hadden, B. W., & Smith, C. V. (2019). I gotta say, today was a good (and meaningful) day: Daily meaning in life as a potential basic psychological need. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(1), 185-202.
Mindfulness Can Make You Happy-and-Productive A Mindfulness Controlled Trial and Its Effects on Happiness, Work Engagement and Performance.pdf Mindfulness Can Make You Happy-and-Productive A Mindfulness Controlled Trial and Its Effects on Happiness, Work Engagement and Performance.pdf – Alternative Formats
Coo, C., & Salanova, M. (2018). Mindfulness can make you happy and productive: A mindfulness controlled trial and its effects on happiness, work engagement and performance. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(6), 1691-1711.
It is important that you learn how to critically review research. In our society today, we are exposed to many studies. Some are excellent, some are useful, and some are invalid and unreliable. How can you determine what information is useful and what is dangerous? The most important thing you will learn from this course—and from your college education—is how to critically evaluate information presented to you. Critical thinking involves asking five questions: who, what, when, where, how.
The articles provided all come from a peer reviewed journal called “Journal of Happiness Studies”. These are an example of what your instructors mean when we ask for a primary source. The assignment here is to choose one of the articles, read it, and answer the questions below. Please format the review as it is seen below. Is this a reputable journal? How do you know that? You will need to investigate the authors- are they reputable/qualified to do what they did? Is the research sound? In the discussion, are their inferences and assertions reasonable?
Directions and Critical Review Example to follow below:
Directions
You will write a one-page critical review of the article. double-space your reivew. The review should answer each of the five questions. You must cite your source. If it is a website, make sure you put the entire web address. Remember you are evaluating critically, not just summarizing. See the example below the grading rubric:
CRITICAL THINKING REVIEW EXAMPLE-USE THIS AS YOUR GUIDE
Critical thinking involves asking five questions—who, when, what, where, how. You should organize your paper in the following manner:
Your name should appear on the first line.
Next you place the correctly APA cited source that you are reviewing here.
Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105
Where: Where did this article/Web page appear? Is this reasonable? Is the publishing entity respectable/responsible?
This requires that you do some research on the Journal itself. Is Psychology & Marketing a reputable journal? Where you get your information is critical when supporting your argument. This is why you will here your instructors telling you not to use Wikepedia (which can be edited by anyone) and blogs (which are usually mostly opinion). Even WebMD is a not reputable since some of their content is influenced by their sponsors.
Who: Who wrote/published the article/Web page? What are their credentials? Are the credentials appropriate for their argument?
Who are the authors? Are they qualified to research this? For example, do they have a doctorate?
When: Is this current information? If yes, do you think it will stand the “test of time”? If no, is it outdated or is it classic?
Articles have a shelf-life. When writing about this topic, you want current information and this article is 17 years old. It would behoove you to see if this measure has been written about since this article. Are they still validating it? Using it?
What: What argument is/are the author(s) making? Is it logical? Based on what you know, is it reasonable? What evidence is given to support the argument? Can you think of evidence to refute it?
