UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HOSPITAL

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH CRITIQUE

Participant of Journal Club
Name:
Date:
Article Reviewed: (Author names, Title of article, Journal, Year, Volume, Page numbers)

1. Research Purpose
a. Is the purpose of the article clearly stated?
Yes
b. Is the research question clearly identified?
Yes
2. Review of Literature/Background:
a. Is the literature reviewed relevant to the study purpose?
Yes
b. Is the literature review logically and clearly organized?
Yes
c. Does the review primarily use current literature? (published within
Yes
the last 5 years)
d. Were primary sources used? (A primary source is written by the
Yes
person who originated the ideas published)
3. Research Design and Methods:
a. Was institutional review board (IRB) approval obtained?
Yes
b. Was the sample (group of subjects) described?
Yes
c. What type of design(s) was (were) used? Circle all that apply:
Descriptive; Ethnography; Phenomenology; Hermeneutics; Grounded Theory; Historical
4. Data collection, measurement, and analysis:
a. Did you understand how the researcher collected data?
Yes
b. Did you understand how the researcher analyzed the data
Yes
collected?
5. Findings/Results and Conclusions
a. Were the results organized logically and presented clearly?
Yes
b. Do you have any concerns about the results?
Yes
c. Describe strengths/limitations of the study:

No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No

No
No
No
No

6. Summarize one element/finding in this article that you will/will not use in your practice as a
result of reading this article.

What is the level of evidence for this study?

Strongest
Evidence

Level
1
2
4
5

Weakest
Evidence

6
7
8

Evidence
Systematic review & meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials; clinical guidelines
based on systematic reviews or meta-analyses
One or more randomized controlled trials
Controlled trial (no randomization); quasi-experimental
Case-control or cohort study
Systematic review of descriptive studies; systematic review of qualitative studies
(metasynthesis)
Single descriptive or qualitative study
Program evaluation, research utilization, quality improvement projects; case reports (JC
sentinel event); benchmarking studies (NDNQI data, UHC reports); or research-based
clinical practice guidelines
Expert opinion (authorities and/or reports of expert committees) textbooks, clinical
product guidelines; non-research based clinical practice guidelines