RUNNING HEAD: A CRITIQUE OF 1

A Critique of a Quantitative Article

by

Jenna Shields

A Paper

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

NU304 Evidence Based Practice
University of South Alabama
College of Nursing
Fall 2009

A Critique of a Quantitative Article

RUNNING HEAD: A CRITIQUE OF 2

Introduction
“Onset of Sexual Activity: Implications in Incarcerated Women” is quantitative article
written by Jenny Ahmed, Barbara A. Davis, Erin Gottman, and Heather Payne. It discusses the
problem of whether early age (in years) of onset of sexual activity is related to the number of
sexually related health difficulties in women who are incarcerated ((Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, &
Payne, 2006)). The problem is clearly stated in the abstract and at the end of the introduction of
the paper. The reader had no difficulties in finding it, and it informed the reader what the focus
of the paper is about without her having to read the entire article to discover it. The purpose of
this paper was to conduct a critique of a quantitative research study.
Background
The literature review was clear and concise. It identified many gaps in the research, as
well as gaps in knowledge and gaps in the literature. The researcher does not explain how the
review was done or what databases or journals were searched, nor does he say how many were
searched, so the reader does not know if the review of literature was thorough or not. The
researcher does, however, cite many authors in the review, which increases his credibility to the
reader. No theoretical framework was identified by the researcher in this paper.
The hypothesis was clearly identified at the end of the literature review. The reader
understood immediately that it was the hypothesis and understood the components of it without
difficulty. The population, independent variable, and dependent variable were identified. No
extraneous variables were identified by the researcher.
Methods
The research design was a descriptive correlational design, which was fitting for the
study because the researchers were examining the relationship between two or more variables in
a situation, but they did not know the reason for the relationship (Boswell and Cannon, 2007). It
was set in a county jail, which was fitting because that is specified in the population they were
testing: incarcerated women in the county jail of a small Midwestern city in January of 2004
(Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, & Payne, 2006). The sample was a convenience sample that consisted
of fifty women, which is a small sample. A larger sample may have given more accurate results
for this study. Convenience sampling was appropriate for this study because the only place the
researchers were looking for a population from was in this particular jail. The only criteria for
the sample were that the participants had to be women in this particular county jail who were
willing to participate and give their written consent to participate (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, &
Payne, 2006). It may have been more beneficial for the researchers to divide the sample up into
populations based on consensual sexual activity v. non-consensual activity to get a more accurate
view of why some of the women had psychosocial problems and why some did not. No control
group existed, as is appropriate for correlational design. The researcher discusses legal and
ethical issues by stating that he received approval from an institutional review board and an
agency. He also made it clear that he obtained written consent from each inmate before her
participation in the study.
To collect the data, the researchers began by asking female inmates if they would like to
participate in the study. This was fitting for the study and population sample. All of the inmates
who agreed to participate were briefed about the study in detail and asked to give written
consent. One researcher then interviewed each of the inmates over the closed communication
phone in the visitation area of the cellblock, and only the researcher and participant heard the
interview. The interview was a nineteen question questionnaire, where the researcher read the
questions and the inmates answered yes or no. The questions were brief, clearly stated and
simple to understand. Each interview was about fifteen minutes long (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman,
& Payne, 2006). This was an appropriate way to gather the information. It ensured that the
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participant was fully informed of the study and its implications, and it also ensured privacy and
confidentiality. Also, the use of one researcher to interview all of the women standardized the
interviews, limiting variations and biases based on the researcher’s reactions to the inmates’
responses. The briefness of the interview most likely ensured that the inmates answered
thoughtfully and truthfully instead of trying to hurry through the interview.
Instrumentation and Data Analysis
The instrument used for the data collection was the nineteen question health survey tool
(questionnaire). The researchers clearly defined the age of onset of sexual activity as the age of
the first time of oral, anal, or vaginal sexual activity (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, & Payne, 2006).
This is great because it limited confusion and ensured that the participants understood exactly
what the researchers were asking them. Instead of asking if the participants had had any sexually
related problems, the researchers asked separate questions about physical factors and
psychosocial factors that were directly related to sexual activity (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, &
Payne, 2006). The problems were included in the questions in a simple format. For example,
instead of asking if the participant had low self-esteem, the researcher would ask if she had ever
felt bad about herself. This was good because it eliminated confusion and made it so that anyone
could understand the questions and accurately answer them, which in turn increased the accuracy
of the results. The researchers addressed validity by testing the face validity of the health survey
tool with the first fifteen women (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, & Payne, 2006).
The researchers used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 12.0 to
analyze the data. They also used Pearson’s r correlation to see if there was a relationship
between the age of onset of sexual activity and the number of health problems related to sexual
activity (Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, & Payne, 2006). Frequency data was determined by using
statistics such as ethnicity, age of onset of sexual activity, age, and total risk survey scores
(Ahmed, Davis, Gottman, & Payne, 2006). This method of analysis is a good way to examine the
correlation in the problem statement. The frequency data may also be helpful to further break
down the data or to provide data for new experiments to be performed off of with regards to race,
ethnicity, age, or age of onset of sexual activity.
Discussion
The conclusions of the data analysis were that the findings supported the hypothesis. The
reader agrees with this based on the method of analyzing the data being relevant and trustworthy.
The researcher includes many limitations of the study in his discussion, which leads the reader to
believe that he is honest about his study and the results. He also includes many implications for
practice in his conclusion. The implications are clear and realistic and useful to those in the
nursing profession as well as those in other health care professions. The use of the articles
researched in the literature review increased the level of evidence of this paper.
Conclusion
This article was brief, well-written, clear, and concise. It was easy for a novice researcher
like the reader to read and understand the exact implications of the research. The reader had no
difficulty dissecting the different parts of the article and discerning their importance to the study.
The researcher was very honest and forthcoming with the methods, possible biases, and
limitations of the study. He included every component that a quantitative article needs.

References
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Ahmed, J., Davis, B.A., Gottman, E., & Payne, H. (2006). Early onset of sexual activity:

implications in incarcerated women. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 12(2), doi:

10.1177/1078345806288908.

Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2007). Introduction to nursing research: incorporating evidence-

based practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.