Article evaluation methods and frameworks

¶ … Wagner, J. & Rehfuss, M. (nd). Self-Injury, Sexual Self-Concept, and a Conservative Christian Upbringing: An Exploratory Study of Three Young Women's Perspectives.

The title of the article is strong and evocative while also mentioning as many of the variables of the research as possible. No abstract is included. The research question is whether a conservative Christian upbringing is correlated with self-injurious behavior and negative sexual self-concept. The researcher hypothesizes that because sexual self-concept and self-injurious behavior have been linked, and because a conservative Christian upbringing impacts sexual self-concept, that a conservative Christian upbringing may in fact be related to self-injurious behavior in women. The author does not predict what direction the causal relationship may be: whether a Christian upbringing offers social and spiritual supports that mitigate psychological problems or whether the restrictive Christian social norms exacerbate psychological problems related to sexual self-concept and self-injurious behavior. Independent variables include a conservative Christian background and a history of self-injurious behavior. Sexual self-concept is both dependent and independent variable: dependent related to the conservative Christian upbringing but independent related to self-injurious behavior. The research was qualitative and exploratory in nature, based on three women's case studies. Sample size is too small for the research to have any external validity but potent enough in scope to provide a motive for a larger-scale study. No statistical analysis was used, but the researchers could map out in flow chart style how the three variables are interrelated.

Several problems related to internal validity do affect the research design. For example, researchers identified themselves as Christian, which suggests a research bias. External validity is threatened not just by the sample size but also on the ability to extend the results to a broader population. For instance, the authors do not clarify exactly what a "Christian" upbringing is, and Christianity is a heterogeneous religion. The results are, however, adequately and correctly reported. The authors explain why the results matter: a conservative Christian upbringing may be contributing to psychological problems among young women. In spite of flaws in the research design, the research is worthy of further inquiry.

Alexander, R.T., Tajuddin, M., & Gangadharan, S.K. (nd) Personality Disorders in Intellectual Disability: Approaches to Pharmacotherapy.

The title of the article succinctly describes the purpose of the research. The abstract offers a clear snapshot of the research question but does not mention research methods or results, and is therefore less than adequate. The research question is how psychotropic medications are most effective for populations diagnosed both with an intellectual disability and a personality disorder. Independent variables include the dual-diagnosis of intellectual disorder and personality disorder. Dependent variables include symptom reduction. The research design is not experimental; rather, the researchers analyze past literature related to pharmacological interventions for various personality disorders. The sample size and selection methods are adequate, and the statistical analyses are sound. A graph would ideally differentiate between the different personality disorders and the different intellectual disabilities to reveal patterns.

The research design does not take into account the need to differentiate between different personality disorders or intellectual disorders -- or how those diagnoses are related. External validity problems stem from the overgeneralization problems and the vagueness: too many variables are included in the one research design. The results are adequately and correctly reported, but with insufficient detail. Narrowing the study to a narrower question would have helped. Moreover, the author does not actually mention why the research is necessary other than to promote the use of pharmacological interventions among a population diagnosed with both an intellectual disability and a personality disorder. The article is a worthy systematic analysis of research but has little to offer the clinical community.

Lyon, M.E., Benoit, M., O'Donnell, R.M. Getson, P.R., Silber, T & Walsh, T. (nd). Assessing African-American adolescents' risk for suicide attempts: attachment theory.