Critique of a research paper Quantitative design Essay - 1

Critique of a research paper Quantitative design - Essay Example The researchers aimed at examining the progress of the Motivate Programme; an exercise, behaviour change and nutrition guided management programme, in terms of how it could help the select group of overweight and obese participants improve their cardiovascular risk factors (Rutherford et al, 2014). The aims lay out what the reader has to expect, and provide a basis to evaluate consistency in a research process (Boaz and Ashby, 2003). Highlighting the credentials of authors proves their experience in a field, and offers credibility to research (Vance et al, 2013). The institutional affiliations of all participants were clearly indicated in the article. Credibly, they were all affiliated to leading institutions in the United Kingdom. However, the educational attainments of the authors were not listed. The article was published in the journal Soccer and Society, a relatively new, peer reviewed journal database with a growing readership and specific focus on sociological, financial and scientific matters of soccer. A database that does not offer peer reviews has lower regard in the scholarly world, since evidence for clarification of the research process is a necessity for quality control (Rafols et al, 2012). Rychetnik et al. (2002) noted that the abstract should clearly summarize the main sections of an article. The abstract is clearly and systematically outlined to provide highlights of every major part of the article; the background, aims, methods, results and conclusion. A strong justification was offered to explain why they carried out the research, noting that the unique approach of the research (soccer-based exercises, unlike mere walking and running used in many research studies; and the location of recruitment). No clear research questions were provided to guide the research. Research questions are an important step in guiding readers of an article through the transition from the aims to the results. As such, sufficiency of research