Summary

Article Summary/Critique

A research article summary for English 458 should include

• a clear statement of the paper's hypothesis, claim, or research question;

• a brief outline of the argument(s) used to support the claim;

• a description of the method(s) used to acquire evidence used in the argument; and

• a brief assessment of the choice of methods and the soundness of the argument.

A description of an experimental paper, for example, would include the hypothesis, the experimental design (including a brief description of the stimuli, the subjects, the actions of the experimenters and subjects, and the results), an outline of the argument (i.e., how does the data support the claims), and a brief discussion of any problems you see with the design of the experiment or the argument(s) that support the claims.

If you don't see any methodological or logical problems, you may just assert that the methods appear appropriate to the issue being examined and that logic of the argument seems sound.

The target length for your summary/critique is 300-500 words, with a maximum length of 1000 words.