Evaluating the Research Process

Many people engage in research practices with the motive of analyzing given problems in the society while others do it for study purposes. Caeiro, Ferro, Santos and Figueira (2006) conducted research on depression in acute stroke (Caeiro, Ferro, Santos, & Figueira, 2006). The paper will analyze the research to evaluate the research process considering application of the literature review, ethical consideration and statistical analysis significance. The paper will also analyze the conclusion to determine the effectiveness of the study.

Literature Review

The literature assessment is utilized in the study as a consultation from diverse researchers and scholars who have researched similar topics. It informs the researchers more about the research topic and theories that have been proven through scientific experiments relating to the topic (Creswell, 2008). However, the study tends to leave some gap that the researchers are trying to fill. The literature review has provided some theories that explain how depression occurs in stroke patients. The authors agree with most of the theories provided in the literature review indicating how their variables affect the outcomes of the study. The study has addressed ideas that are similar to the literature review hence proving validity. Consulting many sources in the literature review enables the researchers to provide a more detailed study.

Ethical Consideration

The process of doing assessment has been done with devotion of the raid down ethics and legal terms. Respondents’ rights were protected at every instance and evaluation procedure is carried out. Based on clinical and counseling matters, particularly psychological and testing, the information provided is acquired with ethical consideration (Creswell, 2008). The authors have maintained the required ethics since they have not published detailed personal data, such as the names of individuals. In addition, the information is not published against the will of the patients. Psychological tests including intelligence test, aptitude and achievement test and neuropsychological tests that measure deficits in mental effectiveness was done, but the outcomes of the tests are not uncovered to the public without the patients’ permission. In other words, the psychological test is interpreted and administered ethically for learning purposes and the purpose of the research. The information needed was given voluntarily. The respondents were free to give out information required without parameters. In addition, the preferences of individuals providing information were respected with the outcomes of the assessment not being able to label, evaluate or limit the respondents in any manner.  

Data Collection

The data collection of the study is telling us that the researcher used two sources of data to answer the research question. The first method of gathering data was primary or original data collection from different patients (Creswell, 2008). The research also used secondary data or the literature review from different researchers, doctors, psychologists and scholars who wrote on the topic. Data required being analyzed using descriptive statistics, a factor that made the research express it using tables, graphs and frequency distribution tables. Operationalization in the survey was important because it helped the researchers to simplify the question to the patients. It also saved time for the patients.

The findings of the study are significant statistically. The researchers give a clear distribution of the statistics in a distribution table that helps to make the information easy to comprehend and calculate. To prove that the findings are significant, the study is supported by the literature review acquired from different sources that came up with the same or related conclusions. In addition, there is no significant difference that can be seen from the statistics concerning age, sex or mood. To show significance, the researchers indicate all the formulas used to calculate the mean and uses tables to express variation. Use of percentage also indicates the validity of the statistics and makes it easy for a person studying the report to understand.

The conclusion of the study matches the results of the study since it supports the thesis and explains how the objectives of the study were made one after the other. In addition, the conclusion serves as a summary of the findings that were acquired from the study and the literature review. Although the conclusion is not detailed, it serves a collection of the results that the researcher acquired after collecting both original and canned data analyzing them in a statistical way (Creswell, 2008). However, in the conclusion, it would be better if the researchers gave some recommendation what could be done to improve the condition and help future researchers. It is evident that the conclusion matches the results of the study as it provides an answer to the research topic taking into consideration all factors, such as age, sex and mood.

According to the definition offered in the explanation of the problem, the conclusion is not detailed enough to answer the research question. The researchers required to write a more detailed conclusion explaining the frequency of depression and give the relationship between demographic depression, precipitating and predisposing conditions. It would also be necessary to indicate the relationship between imaging data and clinical condition of stroke patients. Therefore, despite the fact that the researchers have conducted detailed research that gives a clear definition and analysis of the research topic, they have not offered an appropriate conclusion. It was necessary to focus on the research question and the research problem in the conclusion.  This was to make sure that the conclusion supports the thesis to indicate in a clear way the solution of the research question acquired from the study.