Critique of a qualitative research article Essay

Critique of a qualitative research article - Essay Example 4. The study shows no any stated hypothesis. 5. The study was an original one and not a replication of past studies because it was the first study to apply longitudinal and repeated measures design in children. This is unique because previous studies were done through the cohort design. Through the unique approach, the study added new information to what was already from previous studies. First, the study found that self-determined health judgment reduced significantly over the 6 month period after intervention. This decline portrayed a change from intrinsic to extrinsic direction unlike previous studies that used the cohort design, which found the change to move from extrinsic to intrinsic direction (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). 6. The study participants in this study were children aged 8 to 9 years and their mothers. In selecting, the study participants, children and their mothers were supposed to self identify as either white or Latino. The second criterion was that the child should be in good health, which meant that the child should not have any acute or life threatening medical condition. In addition, the child was supposed to have the ability to attend to daily activities such as attending school. Thirdly, the mothers we required, in addition to speaking Spanish, English or both, were also required to be able to read in either of the two languages for them to be able to fill questionnaires that were written at fourth to sixth grade levels. Finally, both the child and mother were required to reside in the same household (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). The independent variables in this study were; one, consistent use of media rules in families under investigation. The other independent variables were age, ethnicity, and poor affective responsiveness in the family. The dependent variable was the level of children involvement in risk taking behaviors. The study fails to provide a definition of each of the independent variables, as well as the dependent variable (Chen & Ke nnedy, 2009). 7. The sample population was made of study subjects of the White and Latino origin. There were 16 sites that offered a total of 34 groups with about 4 children in a group. There were a total of 122 children aged 8 to 9 years and their mothers. The number of the white participants was 58 while the Latinos were 64. The randomly selected sample comprised of 58 girls, who represented 47.5% of the participants, and 64 boys, which was 52.5%, of the study participants. The groups were well balanced in terms of ethnicity and gender (Chen & Kennedy, 2009). Based on the objective of the study, which was to research on school age children to reduce their risk taking behaviors and increase safety behaviors, I feel that the study also ought to have included teachers who teach in the schools attended by the children under investigation. Therefore, the study was to some extent not comprehensive because teachers spend more time with the children than the mothers and are much aware of children behaviors. By targeting two ethnic groups; the Whites and the Latinos, the population appears not to be a generalizable one because there are varying factors among ethnic groups that would determine the level of exposure to risky behaviors by children. Therefore, ethnicity being one of the variables under investiga