NAME ______

RESEARCH PAPER ANALYSIS TEMPLATE

The goal in filling out analysis templates is to explicitly relate experimental findings to the hypotheses tested or questions asked, and to guide you in the process of evaluating results and drawing conclusions.

Big Question: What larger question is the Research Question a part of?

Background:What previous observations or ideas led the investigators to do this research?

Research Question:What question will they try to answer in this paper?

Hypothesis:What is their proposed answer to that question?

Approach:What methods/models will be used to test the hypothesis? What will be measured?

Predictions: Use if-then and if not-then logic statements to predict, respectively, what data might be obtained that would support the hypothesis and what data might be obtained that would refute the hypothesis.

Analysis: Did their data support or refute their hypothesis? Do you have any suggestions for them to improve either the research or its presentation?

CONCEPT MAP Read the Introduction of the paper and draw a concept map. Put terms and concepts in boxes and connect the boxes with verbs or words explaining their relationship.

See or for examples

METHODS CARTOON Sketch a quick but legible cartoon of the main method(s) used in the study. You can copy and modify it for use in each figure template if you like.

FIGURE ANALYSIS TEMPLATE—Cartoon methods, annotate figures, then fill this form for eachfigure

Figure Number: _____

1) “Official” title for this figure (from the caption):

2) My (simplified) title for this figure reflecting the question being asked or theresult being presented:

3) The specific hypothesis being tested, or specific question being asked in the experiment(s) represented here is:

ANALYSIS: First, refer to your cartoon of what the experimenters did, and to your annotated figure, and to the information you wrote in above. Then, answer the following for each figure:

4a) For descriptive studies:

If we compare panel(s)______and ______, or columns ______and ______,

we learn about______

4b) For experimental studies:

i. The controls in this experiment are:

ii. They are represented (in which part of the chart or graph, or what figure panels?)

iii. The experimental group(s)is/are:

iv. They are represented: (in which part of the chart or graph, or what figure panels?)

v. We need to compare the controls in ______with the experimentals in ______to find

out______(Repeat if there are moreexperiments in the figure):

vi. When we do this, we learn that:

5) Overall, what we learn from this figure is:

6) The following issues are ones of concern to me: (these can be things you don’t understand, or criticisms of the method, questions for the authors, or anything else that comes to mind)

REFERENCES

  • CREATE website:
  • Hoskins, S., Stevens, L., and Nehm, R., (2007) Selective Use of Primary Literature Transforms the Classroom into a Virtual Laboratory.Genetics, 176 1381-1389.
  • Hoskins, S., (2008) Using a Paradigm Shift to Teach Neurobiology and the Nature of Science—a C.R.E.A.T.E.-based Approach. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education 6(2):A40-A52.