A COMPARATIVE CRITIQUE OF TWO ARTICLES DEALING WITH BREAST CANCER
This research critiques comparatively two journal articles dealing with the topic of breast cancer. Overviews of each article are presented prior to discussions of (1) the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the two articles, (2) the differences and similarities that characterize the two articles, and (3) threats to the validity of the two articles.
Six factors are addressed in the overview of each article. These factors are (1) the purpose of the study, (2) research questions and/or hypotheses, (3) the study sample, (4) the research methodology, (5) the research design, and (6) the study findings.
This article was "Deciding on Breast Cancer Treatment: A Description of Decision Behavior," by Penny F. Pierce (1993, pp. 22 27). There were two purposes to the study reported in this article. First, the study sought to "describe the naturally occurring and unaided decision making of women facing treatment for breast cancer" (Pierce, 1993, p. 22). Second, the study sought to "provide empirical grounding for developing a conceptual framework for stressful health care decision making" (Pierce, 1993, p. 22).
There was no formally stated research question presented in this article. Based upon the stated purposes of the study, one may infer that the research questions investigated through the
conduct of the study were as follows: (1) What are the different unaided decision making behaviors employed by women in the selection of treatment for breast cancer? and (2) What factors may be used as indicators of the type of decision making behavior that will be employed by a woman in the selection of treatment for breast cancer? There was no formally stated hypothesis presented in this article. As the methodology employed in the conduct of the study reported in the article was qualitative as opposed to quantitative in character, neither was there an implied sta...