Jan 17, 2019
Complete Guide on Article Analysis (with 1 Analysis Example)
In this dynamic guide, we will help you to understand what is a critical analysis writing and how to write a good critical analysis paper that fits news articles and research journals.
Here is a flow of our guide:
- What is Critical Analysis Writing?
How to Analyze an Article
How to write a critical analysis, how to analyze a news article, how to analyze research articles, article analysis template: follow for a better writing, example of an article critical analysis, what is a critical analysis writing.
Critical analysis writing means evaluation of author’s work where it can be a news article analysis, a research journal article, a book, transcript of a conference or even a movie.
In most cases, it has an aim to increase reader’s understanding of an article’s thesis and the contents. A critical analysis article writing is subjective because it expresses writer’s opinion, analysis or evaluation of a given text. In order to understand that you are working with a critical analysis, you have to remember that analysis means breaking down and studying of the parts. As already mentioned, there can be many types of articles to analyze. You have to understand what type of an article you are going to work with, so you can come up with a right tone and format of your future essay.
Remember that when you analyze your paper, your main task is to make sure that your audience understands the major points without much difficulty. You have to show your critical thinking skills and make judgments about the subject as you analyze an article, so you can come up with clear opinion and conclusions.
When you read an article or a news report, find and identify author’s main points and the thesis. Analyze the structure of the article step-by-step as you read. Always give yourself enough time to read through the article. If writing is “ a must ” for you as you read, you can start with an outline draft first where you mention the most important points. In most cases, look for a purpose of author’s written work. There can be several purposes of writing:
- Inform the reader: look if the article has a clear structure and whether it provides sufficient evidence supported by facts and additional research.
- Persuade the reader: look to find if the author has presented logical reasoning and counter-arguments, opposite opinions to persuade someone about particular opinion.
- Entertain the reader: see what emotions are caused by the article and how does it personally influence and inspire you.
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Start with reading an article in question to help yourself understand author’s opinion and a purpose. Next, start working with an outline that will guide you through the main ideas as you prepare to write a critical analysis. Make sure to:
- Try to avoid speaking of your ideas by starting with “ I think ”, “ I believe ” and “ In my opinion ” as the subject of your critical analysis is a subject, not your personality.
- Always make sure to introduce the subject in your paper, as the audience may not be aware of what you are writing of.
- Focus on both strengths and weaknesses of the author by trying to follow the same structure used.
- Always use evidence and the facts to support your claims and presented ideas.
- Use critical analysis writing to tell of article’s value and relevance.
- Always remain open-minded and unbiased as you analyze, read, and write your paper.
Since the news article has a purpose to inform the audience, it is important to understand that the news reports are time-sensitive and usually relate to particular events and incidents. When working with the news article critical analysis, look out for the following:
- Check the headline of the news article and include it in your thesis
- Focus on structure, voice of the article, tone, and rhetoric
- Examine the structure of the news report to see how much of a personal opinion is included
- Look for metaphors, alliterations, and allegories to understand author’s true opinion.
- Determine the tone of the article by trying to identify the news report with one word. It can be critical, angry, passionate, satirical or even neutral.
When you have to analyze research articles, you should make sure that you:
- Describe the article briefly and explain it to the reader what the article is about. While you are reading the article, you have to look for details that identify the topic of the article.
- Identify the purpose of the author or a reason why the author believes that a topic of research is relevant and important.
- Identify the research methods and try to identify whether they appear to be suitable or not.
- Check and provide evidence and facts as you speak of a research article and back it up with your own examples.
- Check (and state, if applicable) whether the author refers to other research articles and if similar studies have been done. If yes, it should be mentioned and explained in your work as you speak of research methods and evidence.
- Analyze the sources that were used by the author to get a better idea of how the author has formed his or her thoughts. It will help you to analyze research articles with greater professional competence and a higher level of confidence.
To make it easier for you to write a critical analysis essay, we have a helpful analysis writing template that will guide you through the most critical points. This helpful writing template will make sure that you are following the right format, structure, and do not miss anything important!
Introduction
- State the title of the work that you analyze, specify author’s name and the date of publication, if available.
- Outline the main ideas of a news report or a research journal article to identify the author’s thesis.
- Come up with your own thesis statement and talk briefly of your main vision and ideas related to original paper.
- Keep it short! After all, it is an introduction!
Examples to Follow : The “Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is an educational and a self-critical story because the author makes a point about… The article “Racial Prejudice in Pretoria, South Africa” by Joost Van Der Graaf provides an unbiased insight on racial relationships in South Africa in a unique manner because the author has studied…
- Provide a brief outline of the main ideas presented in your research article, news report, book or a movie.
- This is an actual part that should answer to the questions what, why, who, when and how exactly .
- Discuss the structure of an article that you are working with, talk about the style and the point of view presented by the author.
Examples to Follow: This article tells about… An academic environment where the research has taken place is… The main subject in the news report is telling a story of his own vision of a financial crisis… The theme of a research article focuses on… The author clearly argues that… The research makes an important point of a difference between home-schooling and public education through the lens of … The authors conclude that…
- State what you like and what you do not like about the article or a news report in a critical way.
- Explain your own ideas by offering specific examples from an actual article, a news report or a book.
- Next, you have to state and explain whether the author has achieved his or her intentions and goals or not.
You have to use analysis to see whether an original journal article or a paper is focused, clear, unbiased, informative, and persuasive enough. Another important point to check is whether an article directs to appropriate and specific audience and if it really meets intentions and a purpose. Check for correct conclusions and summing up of a research being done.
a) Restate your thesis in a different way, using new words. b) Summarize your main thesis and ideas presented, using core points in a different tone. c) If necessary and if appropriate, you should make a call to action for your target audience.
Examples to follow:
This article is important because it provides a unique… This article has a biased attitude because the author only focuses on… Instead of turning to real-life examples and the actual statistics, the author of the news report only makes assumptions…
Now let us move on to an actual critical analysis writing example of a research article, so you can learn and start with your own work!
We want to offer you a real-life critical analysis example of a research article. Therefore, we did an actual work for you, based on an important topic of virtue ethics approach and morals in the field of healthcare.
An original article can be accessed here .
“A Virtue Ethics Approach to Moral Dilemmas in Medicine” Critical Analysis
“A Virtue Ethics Approach to Moral Dilemmas in Medicine” article by Patricia Gardiner, published in 2003 in Journal of Medical Ethics, is an example of innovative study of the role and place of morals and the virtue ethics in medicine and nursing practices. While majority of complex moral dilemmas are analyzed through the lens of consequences and the facts, the author takes a different approach where the virtue ethics play a key role in analysis and strategic thinking. In other words, the author tries to make it clear to the audience that once the principles of a person or an organization enter a conflict stage, there is always bias that forces an individual to choose the factors that should or should not dominate. Considering emotional and moral elements of an equation, Gardiner turns to virtue ethics as to a framework that focuses on the character of a moral agent itself instead of being limited by studying the rightfulness of an action alone.
Turning to analysis of two different moral dilemmas, the author walks an extra mile to illustrate the ways how different scenarios can be enhanced by the virtue ethics in such complex environments as healthcare. While the subject may appear to be philosophical to general audience, Gardiner approaches moral dilemmas as a general practitioner, which makes her opinion less biased from practical perspective. Still, turning to philosophy, the research article studies the place of a reason and analyzes the role of emotion on a daily basis. It allows the audience to see diverse circumstances and apply their emotions in practice. An important role is given to motivation because a virtuous person approaches a situation where internal attitudes, professional skills, and a reasoning should come in balance. The cases presented by the author, while familiar to most of us, speak of moral dilemmas in healthcare from a different point. Even though Jehovah’s Witness case has legislation’s element, the author speaks of a moral side and the virtue ethics. The same relates to the case of a doctor where professional judgment collides with anxiety, stress, and personal experiences. What kind of a moral choice should be made? The article helps a reader to understand decency and professionalism from a moral point that replaces consequentialism and deontology.
It is important to understand that Gardiner does not try to persuade a reader that virtue ethics is a superior solution or an only way to deal with moral dilemmas. One of the differences with the virtue ethics is that it recognizes emotional constituent as an integral and an important element of moral perceptions. It considers the role of motivation as important to provide a space for unbiased human interactions. Finally, it provides additional flexibility and allows a person to look for creative solutions in moral and ethically-complex situations where not all the parties involved can be satisfied. The article makes an important call for every professional in the field of healthcare to look beyond usual solutions used on a daily basis and implement such virtuous personal and professional characteristics as honesty, courage, empathy, integrity, and an ability to follow one’s obligations and responsibilities in a natural way.
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Research Analysis Paper: How to Analyze a Research Article [2023]
Do you need to write a research analysis paper but have no idea how to do that? Then you’re in the right place.
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While completing this type of assignment, your key aim is to critically analyze a research article. An article from a serious scientific journal would be a good choice. You can analyze and interpret either quantitative or qualitative research.
Below, you’ll find a how-to guide on research analysis paper writing prepared by our experts. It contains outlining and formatting tips, topics, and examples of research articles analysis.
- Scan the Paper
- Examine the Content
- Check the Format
- Critique & Evaluate
- ✅ Key Questions
🔗 References
🔎 how to analyze a research article.
This analysis will be beneficial for you since it develops your critical thinking and research skills. So, let us present the main steps that should be undertaken to read and evaluate the paper correctly.
Now, let’s figure out what an analysis paper should include. There are several essential elements the reader should identify:
- logical reasons for conducting the study;
- the description of the methodology applied in the research;
- concise and clear report of the findings;
- a logical conclusion based on the results.
You can use free paper samples for college students before you work with your own writing to get a feel of how the analyzing process goes.
Step 1: Scan the Paper
First, briefly look through the found paper and evaluate whether it’s appropriate for your research. Scanning helps you to start the content analysis and get the general idea of the study.
To scan the paper effectively, follow these simple steps:
- Get familiar with the title, abstract , and introduction . Carefully read these parts and make sure you got the author’s point.
- Read the headings of each section and sub-section. But don’t spend time to get familiar with the content.
- Look through the conclusions. Check the overall one and the last sentence of each section.
- Scan the references. Have you read any of these sources before? Highlight them and decide whether they are appropriate for your research or not.
Have you completed these steps of your research paper’s critical analysis? Now, you should be able to answer these questions:
- What kind of a paper is it (qualitative research, quantitative research, a case study, etc.)?
- What is the research paper topic? How is it connected to your subject of study?
- Do you feel like the findings and the conclusions are valid?
- How can the source contribute to your study?
- Is the paper clear and well-written?
After completing this step, you should have a clear image of the text’s general idea. Also, here you can decide whether the given paper is worth further examination.
Step 2: Examine the Content
The next step leads to a deeper understanding of the topic. Here, again, you can try the following course of action to take the maximum benefit from the evaluation of the source.
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- Find the author’s thesis. A thesis statement is usually the last sentence of the introduction (or several sentences). It is an essential part of the paper since it reflects the author’s main point. Make sure you determined the thesis statement and understood it.
- Consider the author’s arguments. How does the author support his position? What are the key arguments they present in their research paper? Are they logical? Evaluate whether the points are clear and concise enough for any reader to get. Do they support the author’s thesis?
- Check the evidence. Try to find all the proof provided by the writer. A successful research paper should have valid evidence for every argument. These can be statistics, diagrams, facts taken from documentaries or books, experiments hold by researchers, etc.
- Determine the limits of the study. An author is supposed to set limits to avoid making their research too broad. Find out what are the variables the writer relied on while determining the exact field of study. Keep them in mind when you decide whether the paper accomplished its goals within limits.
- Establish the author’s perspective. What position does the author take? What methods are applied to prove the correctness of the writer’s point? Does it match with your opinion? Why/ why not?
Sometimes, even after the second step of evaluation, the writer’s perspective is not evident. What to do in this case? There are three scenarios:
- Stop investigating the paper and hope that you will not need it for your research.
- Read some background information on the given topic. Then, reread the paper. This might help you to comprehend the general idea.
- Don’t give up and move on to the next step of the evaluation.
Step 3: Check the Format and Presentation
At this stage, analyze the research paper format and the general presentation of the arguments and facts. Start with the evaluation of the sentence levels. In the research paper, there should be a hierarchy of sentences. To trace the research paper structure, take a look at the tips:
- First-level sentences. They include only general statements and present the ideas that will be explored further in the paper.
- Middle-level sentences. These sentences summarize, give a narrower idea, and present specific arguments.
- Deep-level sentences. They contain specific facts and evidence that correspond to the arguments stated in middle-level sentences.
Your research paper analysis should also include format evaluation. This task might be challenging unless you have the formatting style manual open in front of your eyes.
Figure out what citation style the author applied and check whether all the requirements are met. Here is a mini checklist you have to follow:
- in-text citations
- reference list
- font style and size, spacing
- abstract (if needed)
- appendix (if needed)
Step 4: Critique & Evaluate
This step requires attention to every detail in the paper. Identify each of the author’s assumptions and question them. Do you agree with the author’s evidence? How would you support the arguments? What are your opinions regarding the author’s ideas?
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For starters:
Try to re-implement the entire paper from your perspective and see how your version differs from the initial work. This trick will help you to determine the strong and weak sides of the work.
Then, move on to criticism. An effective way to evaluate a research paper consists of asking the right questions and assessing the crucial aspects, like:
- The author’s objective and whether it was reached. Did you get the author’s main idea? Did the writer reach their aim and explain the arguments in great detail? Remember that even if the reader is not majoring in the study field, they should understand the objective. Is there something that remained unclear for you? In your opinion, what is the cause of your inability to comprehend the material?
- The role in the broader context. Make sure the author’s arguments and evidence sound adequately in the larger context. Do the writer’s ideas contradict social norms. If so, why? Also, check the sources the author uses for their research. Make sure they are reliable and not outdated.
- Grammar and organization. A professional research paper should not contain any mistakes. Make sure the text is flawless regarding grammar and structure. The ideas have to follow the logical flow; the tone should be academic; the paper should include transitions, summaries should be on point (which is easier to achieve with the help of a paper summarizer ) and so on.
- What the reader learns. The primary aim of an author is to deliver useful information to the reader. Did you, as a reader, find some new insights? Were they relevant and valuable? Consider whether you’ve read something similar before and how the data fit within limits set by the author.
✅ Research Analysis Paper: Key Questions
As you can see, the task requires a lot of time and effort. That is why we’ve prepared a list of questions you should ask while analyzing a research paper. Use them as a ground for critical reading and evaluation.
Congrats! Now you know how to write a research paper analysis. You are welcome to check out our writing tips available on the website and save a ton of time on your academic papers. Share the link with your peers who may need our advice as well.
- An Introduction to Critical Analysis of Publications in Experimental Biomedical Science, the Research Paper in Basic Medical Sciences: K. Rangachari, modified by D.J. Crankshaw, McMaster University Honours Biology & Pharmacology Program
- Critical Analysis Template: Keiran Rankin and Sara Wolfe, the Writing Centre, Thompson Rivers University
- How to Read a Paper: S. Keshav, David R. Cheriton, School of Computer Science, the University of Waterloo
- How to Read a Research Paper: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University
- Reading Research Effectively, Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Research Guides at the University of Southern California
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I would be grateful if you kindly upload a sample of research papers analysis in order to make the points mentioned tangible.
Dear Mustafa, There might be one available on our free essays page – you are welcome to check it out and find out more about the available sample papers that we have! Have a great day!
P.S. Link to the free essays database
Thanks so much for compiling and sharing this great information on research papers analysis! This is what I need to complete my paper fast and effectively! Thanks again!
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Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article
What is a scientific journal, what is a critical review, more help with science writing.
- Analyzing the Text
- Writing Your Critique
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A scientific journal is a publication intended to further the progress of scientific discovery by reporting novel research. Scientific journals publish both original research articles and review articles.
A critical review is an assessment of an original research article. Writing a critical review of a journal article can help you improve your research skills. By assessing the work of others, you develop skills as a critical reader and become familiar with the types of evaluation criteria that will be applied to research in your field.
You are expected to read the article carefully, analyze it, and evaluate the quality and originality of the research, as well as its relevance and presentation. You should assess its strengths and weaknesses, followed by its overall value.
- Do not be confused by the term critique: it does not mean that you only look at the negative aspects of what the researchers have done. You should address both the positive and negative aspects of the journal article.
- If your instructor has given you specific advice on how to write a critical review, follow that advice. If not, the following steps may help you.
This guide is divided into two parts. The first part, "Analyzing the Text," outlines the steps involved in evaluating a research article. The second part, "Writing Your Critique," discusses two possible ways to structure your review.
- Developing a Research Question + Worksheet Use this worksheet to develop, assess, and refine your research questions. There is also a downloadable PDF version.
- Research Article Mapping Template This workbook provides writers with a mapping template and fillable worksheets to begin organizing and drafting sections of a research article.
- Organizing your Research Proposal - Template This 6-page fillable pdf handout provides writers with a template to begin outlining sections of their own research proposal.
- WriteOnline.ca Case Study Report; Lab Report; Literature Review; Reflective Writing
- Writing in the Sciences This series of modules, interviews, and resources are designed to provide science researchers and post-secondary students with practical guidance on how to use clarity and precision in scientific writing.
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Scientists publish research reports for a variety of reasons. Ideally, a research report is a free communication by a scientist or a group.
In a critical analysis essay, you systematically evaluate a work's effectiveness ... you are unfamiliar with or research related reading prior to writing.
A critical analysis paper asks the writer to make an argument about a ... of research? ... Following is a sample outline for a critical analysis paper:.
Critical analysis, which draws upon your critical thinking skills, is usually presented as a written essay or paper, but may also be presented
How to Analyze Research Articles · Describe the article briefly and explain it to the reader what the article is about. · Identify the purpose of
Do your research well. The more thorough you are with your primary and additional sources, the stronger your argument will be. Use persuasive
✓ Research Analysis Paper: Key Questions · Are the methods presented clearly enough? · Were the standard or modified methods used? · If modified
Reread the abstract. Does it accurately summarize the article? · Check the structure of the article (first headings and then paragraphing). Is
Critical analysis essays combine the skills of critical reading, critical thinking, and critical writing. In a critical analysis essay
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