Read article and answer question in essay and MLA format. In text citation required.
1. What is the purpose of the article?
2. Is it reporting an empirical study, a new theory, or is it reviewing previously published theory and research on
a certain topic?
3. What is the topic of the article?
4. What specifically is the article is addressing? (a) Is it answering a specific question, trying to explain certain
observations, presenting a model of some process, exploring the relationship between two or more variables,
or something else? (b) Look to the title and abstract for guidance. (c)What variables are mentioned?
5. Where is the article going?
6. Why is this an interesting or worthwhile topic/phenomenon to research? Why would this article interest
researchers in the field (the journal editors would not have accepted the article for publication unless it met this
role in some way)?
Tip: Look over the structure of the article, paying particular note to headings and subheadings. Scan tables and
figures. You want to get an overview of what the article starts out discussing, what it ends up concluding, and
how it leads you to that conclusion. If you get a rough outline of the entire article in your head before you begin
reading, you have a better chance of seeing how each piece fits into a larger framework.