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Assignment Critiquing the First Steps Throughout this course you will apply the unit learning to the critique of these two studies, in a step-by-step manner. The studies are reported in these articles: Foster-Fitzpatrick, L., Ortiz, A., Sibilano, H., Marcantonio, R., & Braun, L. T. (1999). The effects of crossed leg on blood pressure measurement. (2), 105-108. Palese, A., Skrap, M., Fachin, M., Visioli, S., & Zannini, L. (2008). The experience of patients undergoing awake craniotomy. (2), 166-172. Please print these articles; you will be referring to them frequently, including in upcoming assignments. For this week’s Project, you will submit a critique of the titles, abstracts, purpose statements, problem statements, hypotheses, literature reviews, and theoretical frameworks used in these studies. Remember that one is a qualitative study, and the other is a quantitative study, so different criteria apply. In your textbook on pages 112–114 there is a guide to the critique of a quantitative study, and on pages 115–117 is a similar guide to the critique of a qualitative study. (Also note that in each chapter there are dialog boxes related to specific critique questions for that specific section of the study as well). Be sure to identify variables

and the type of hypothesis if there are any, or why something may not have been included. In the literature review section, include an evaluation of the credibility of the sources used by the researcher (see page 28 of your text to review this). There will be many sources. You do not need to do each one individually but you can group them together by level of evidence of the source. In your conclusion, summarize your overall review of these articles to this point. How well did the researchers follow the research process guidelines? Did you find anything unusual? How does it impact the overall research study if any of the elements are missing? Assignment Requirements The finished Assignment should be a 3-4 paged critical/evaluative essay, excluding the title page and references. The viewpoint and purpose of this Assignment should be clearly established and sustained. Before finalizing your work, you should: Your writing Assignment should: Submit the Unit 4 Project Assignment to the unit Dropbox before midnight on the last day of the unit. How to Submit When you are ready to submit your assignment, click the Dropbox tab and select this unit’s basket from the dropdown menu, then attach your file. Make sure to save a copy of the assignment you submit.