Article Critique
Summary of the Entire Article
Lin et al. (2004) article on “Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on Anger, Mood, and Vulnerability to Substance Use Among Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients” presents the finding of the research investigating the effectiveness of forgiveness therapy (FT) as a treatment for anger, anxiety, and depression among substance abuse victims. The article depicts that anger and violence among substance abusing people are issues of concern in society. FT proved to be an effective treatment, curbing emotional, and depression anxiety of substance abusing people.
This study involved fourteen participants where they were selected randomly for 12 FT treatment sessions and 12 alcohol and drug therapy sessions. These sessions were carried twice a week for two weeks. Study participants were obtained from key drug rehabilitation centers, which are focused on using residential, structured, and intense treatment to individuals with problems of substance abuse. The results obtained indicated that FT was an effective means of treatment of substance abusing people. As such, the research made a conclusion that FT is an effective treatment therapy, which should be adopted in drug rehabilitation centers. The researchers recommended that FT should be compared effectively with known anger-focused therapies. Such a comparison will lead to yield of new information on what should be adopted between other anger-focused therapies and FT.
The title is specific and reasonably concise. This is because the title is different from titles of other research works and has less than 20 words. This eliminates any possibilities of title similarity and enables the reader to grasp the main idea of research conducted quickly. Moreover, the title is eye capturing, which gives it the credit of quality titles. Further, the title identifies the participants as “Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients”. Lin et al. (2004) presented a title for the research, which does not include the results obtained from the research work. As such, the reader has to read the whole document to identify the results obtained in this research. The method of research justifies the causality for the title in this research. This is because the title is based on effects of forgiveness therapy on various variables such as anger, mood, and vulnerability to substance use.
The outstanding feature for this title is that it does not have acronyms and jargon, which makes it suitable for readers from all fields. This is because the words used in the title are comprehensible to people from different fields. Finally, the author refers to research on “Substance Use Among Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients” by including it on the title of his research. This shows that this research was integrated from previous research on “Substance Use Among Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients”.
Critique of Abstract
The abstract presented has a weakness in that it does not show the main purpose of the study, which was conducted. Instead, the abstract provides brief information on both dependable and undependable variables for the study conduct. This leaves the reader with a question “What was the purpose of this study?” Nevertheless, the abstract for this research provides an highlight of the methodology, which was adopted in the research process. This includes an illustration of how the variables were interacted, as well as the time frame for the entire research process. This provides credible information to the reader on what is expected in the methodology section (Pyrczak, 2009). Moreover, the researcher amends the title of measure as the tests, which were carried out and the participants involved in each test. The researcher further provides an highlight of the results, which were obtained from the research process. This aids in developing a background idea of what was done.
In general, the abstract has credible information, which compels the reader to focus more on what is inside the presented document. This includes a brief summary of the study conducted including illustration of the variables, tests, participants, and results, which were obtained from the study. Such information is captivating and draws the reader towards reading the entire document in order to grasp the content contained in this document.
Critique of Literature Review
The researcher begins the introduction section of literature review by identifying the specific problem, which the study focuses on solving. This sets the mind of the reader on what is being solved by the research. Anger and violence in society seem to be the key issues of concern. This enables the reader to develop a background picture of the problem and focus more on the presented literature review in order to gather existing and new knowledge on this problem. On the same note, the researcher ensures that the reader is able to comprehend the importance of the identified problem. The researcher does this by providing instances and cases where the identified problem has be of significant concern in society.
The researcher has a unique way of presenting the introduction section. This is because the researcher ensures that the introduction moves from topic to topic with adequate citation of the same (Pyrczak, & Bruce, 2008). As such, a logical sequence is created on how ideas are integrated and generated in this research. Unfortunately, the researcher did not provide adequate conceptual definition of the terms, which are used in the research process. Instead, the researcher focused on providing more information on the study problem. Nevertheless, the literature review provided is very critical. This is because adequate information is provided on the problem. This information includes what is known, as well as what is new on the area of the problem presented.
While reading the literature review, it is evident that the researcher has a made a clear distinction between research findings and opinions. As such, the reader is able to know various opinions gathered, as well as findings from other researchers. This includes how the researcher incorporated these opinions and findings in study. However, the reader may not see the gaps in literature since the researcher has not identified them. Finally, the researcher highlighted the limitations, which exists in empirical research.
Critique of Research Hypothesis
The researcher was wondering whether forgiveness therapy (FT) would be of any significance use to substance-dependent patients as they recover and experience anger and related emotions. To provide an answer to this, the researcher formulated an effective hypothesis. This hypothesis is clearly stated such that each and every individual can and read and comprehend the same effectively. The statement of the hypothesis is generated from the literature review, which the researcher conducted. Actually, the researcher had an effective and appropriate methodology design, which was suitable for investigating the hypotheses. The design is outlined effectively such that it is easy to follow on each and every step and identify what was being done.
Reference List
Lin, W, Mack, D, Enright, R, & Baskin, T. (2004). “Effects of Forgiveness Therapy on
Anger, Mood, and Vulnerability to Substance Use Among Inpatient Substance-Dependent Clients”, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 72, No. 6.
Pyrczak, F, & Bruce, R. (2008). Evaluating Research in Academic Journals: A Practical
Guide to Realistic Evaluation (4th Ed). ISBN: 1884585787. Pyrczak Pub.
Pyrczak, F. (2009). Evaluating Research in Academic Journals: Answer Key. Pyrczak
Publishing.
