DRM// ASSIGNMENT 2 : CRITICAL REVIEW

 

23.10.2021-07.10.2021//Week 5-Week 7

Chaw Zhi Ting (0347344) 
Bachelor of Design (Hons) Creative Media
Design Research Methodology // Assignment 2 Critical Review

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LECTURES :

WEEK 5// Critical Review

A critical review is much more than a simple summary; it is an analysis and evaluation of a book, article, or another medium. 

3 STEPS to write an effective Critical Review

1. Reading:

Before reading: What does the title lead you to expect about the article?

• Studysub-headings to understand how the author organized the content.

• Read the abstract for a summary of the author's arguments.

• Study list of references to determine what research contributed to the author's arguments. Are the references recent? Do they represent important work in the field?

• If possible, read about the author to learn what authority he or she has to write about the subject.

• See if other writers have cited the author’s work. Has the author made an important

contribution in the field of study?

If the article reports on an experiment or study, does the author clearly outline the methodology and the expected result?

• Is the article lacking information or argumentation that you expected to find?

• Is the article organized logically and easy to follow?

• Does the writer's style suit the intended audience? Is the style stilted or unnecessarily complicated?

• Is the author's language objective or charged with emotion and bias?

• If illustrations or charts are used, are they effective in presenting information?

2. Analysing:

a) Structure 

• What type of text is it? (For example: Is it a primary source or secondary source?
• Is it original research or comment on original research?)
• What are the different sections and how do they fit together?
• Are any of the sections particularly effective (or ineffective)?

b) Methodology 

• Is the research quantitative or qualitative?
• Does the methodology have any weaknesses?
• How does the design of the study address the hypothesis?

c) Reasons/Evidence 

• What sources does the author use (interviews, peer-reviewed journals,
• government reports, journal entries, newspaper accounts, etc.)?
• What types of reasoning are employed (inductive, deductive, abductive)?
• What type of evidence is provided (empirical, statistical, logical, etc.)?
• Are there any gaps in the evidence (or reasoning)?

d) Conclusions 

• Does the data adequately support the conclusion drawn by the researcher(s)?
• Are other interpretations plausible?
• Are the conclusions dependent on a particular theoretical formulation?
• What does the work contribute to the field?

e) Logic

• What assumptions does the author make?
• Does the author account for all of the data, or are portions left out?
• What alternative perspectives remain unconsidered?
• Are there any logical flaws in the construction of the argument?

3. Writing:

Avoid presenting your points in a laundry-list style. Synthesize the information as much as

possible.

WEEK 6// Research Tools

A critical review is much more than a simple summary; it is an analysis and evaluation of a book, article, or another medium.

Research Tools:

-Observation: Focuses on seeing what the users actually do as opposed to what they say they do.

–Site visit / Field research: conducted outside a traditional lab setting, in a user's natural work environment. It involves visiting the site where the product is used and observing the usage in action. It can reveal interesting insights on environmental circumstances affecting the usage of the product, and supplementary tools and workarounds used along with the product.

–Contextual inquiry: combines observation with interview-style questions and responses. Participants get to explain their actions or "think aloud" as they work through a task or activity.

Brainstorming A tool for creative problem solving, wherein a group of people come together to contribute ideas spontaneously. It is particularly useful when you want to break out of stale, established patterns of thinking so that you can develop new ways of looking at things.

–Gamestorming: Refers to the use of games for brainstorming. The term Innovation Games also refers to this technique. Presenting the problem in a game format suspends some of the normal protocols of life and frees the participants to think creatively to solve problems.

Qualitative & Quantitative:

Qualitative research

Expressed in words. It is used to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences. This type of research enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that are not well understood.

Common methods: interviews with open-ended questions, observations described in words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and theories.

Quantitative research

Expressed in numbers and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories and assumptions. This type of research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.

Common methods: experiments, observations recorded as numbers, and surveys with closed-ended questions.

Figure 1.0 Difference between qualitative and quantitative, 13th Oct 2021

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INSTRUCTIONS:

Week 5: Critical Review (Analysed 5 Research articles)

Figure 1.0 Analysis of 5 research articles, 23th Sept 2021

Week 6: Critical Review

Figure 1.1 Comparing 5 research articles, 30th Sept 2021

FINAL SUBMISSION: 

Figure 1.2 Final Critical Review Submission, 9th Oct 2021

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FEEDBACKS:

Week 5:

-General feedback: put the research problem below. Understand the key points, and add personal evaluation and opinion. 

-While selecting a research article, look into the keywords and abstract to make sure it is relevant to our research problem (At the end, we gonna combine 5 critical reviews into one) 

-Improve the usage of the word. exp: table & charts (an easy reference to locate the data) 

-Critical review 1: whether they answer the research questions, mention the recommendations 

-Critical review 2: may find a more recent article within 5 years from the same author. Similar demographic, explain does that work? Further explain how the research method complements each other, give examples. 

-Citation APA style, check back the reference 

-Selection of research articles 1,3, and 5 are relevant, no. 4 may need to reconsider. 

Week 6:

-In the final critical review, compare the articles in 2 main themes, don't have to focus on the structure.

-Exp: graphic design in social media ads & ads in the fast-food industry

-Critical review #1 Balance the weakness part, reconsider does gender ratio matters, focus more on the 303 how long it takes, relevant/ statement fair or biased 

-Critical review #2: Overall good in observation and identifying the weakness, "miss out" change to "mislead" 

-Can start writing the final critical review, others may jot down key points

Week 7:

-Comprehensive and quite thorough. Good job in analyzing the papers and identify the similarity.

-The other elements in the research paper (non-related to the research problem) need to be mention briefly although we do not critique them.

-Second theme does not compare as much as the first theme, but it is fine.

-Can add Ahmed & Vermeir in the second theme as well

-Minor adjustments: add own summary and opinion in the second last paragraph (first theme)

-Some grammatic errors to improve, ready to submit

-Format reminder: Black Arial, 11pt, justification/ flush left is fine, pdf version