Article Review
Article Review
Graphical analysis provides a visual presentation of data (Terpening, 2011). The authors use boxplot for the graphical analysis. Box plots are used to show differences in the means as well as the dispersion for different groups (Rubin, 2012). In the study, the boxplots show the concentration of various mineral across the different location as well as the dispersion of the concentration for each group. The important features are the dispersion measures and central tendency measures. Dispersion is shown by range while the central tendency is shown by mean (Jackson, 2012). The graphs clearly show the means and the range using the tails. There are no features that may mislead a reader.
Article Reporting
Environmental pollution is one of the ills of industrialization. Pollutants are continually being released as byproducts of the production process which affects the environment. One of the environmental resources that are affected by environmental pollution is water and water bodies. The discharge of municipal and industrial waste-water, as well as manure, is constant. However, seasonal variation and climatic condition influence the concentration of pollutants in rivers because they influence precipitation, underground water, surface run-off and pumped water flow. The study sought to assess the impact of seasonal variation on river water quality as measured by the concentration of pollutants in the river (Vega, Pardo, Barrado, & Deba, 1998).
The study uses an observational approach. Seasonal variation is the independent variable while the quality of the water is the dependent variable. Given the nature of the independent variable, the researcher could not control it (JHA, 2014). In experimental studies, the researcher controls all variables (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Therefore, they had to rely on naturally occurring groups. The study is inferential. ANOVA is used to test the study hypothesis at 5 percent significance level. A descriptive study does not perform hypothesis test (Barbie, 2016).
The study does not explicitly describe the population. However, we can deduce that the population entire water is the river from which the water samples are drawn. The river is the Pisuegra river that flows on the Duero river basin in Castilla (Spain). The authors indicate the selected sample locations with precise coordinates. However, the authors do not indicate how the sample size was agreed upon. The authors do no clearly indicate how those locations were selected. I believe the dataset represented the population since a river flows from one place to the other. Therefore, all the water elements had equal chances of being included in the sample which mean the sample is representative (Barbie, 2016). However, the waters of the river can have different properties since it picks up minerals along the way and pollutants. It also depends on the point at which the industrial and municipal effluent are discharged. Therefore, the sample may not be representative if the locations are not in different parts of the river representing the topology of the river. Data was collected through a laboratory analysis of the dataset. The samples were collected in bottles, and they were analyzed in a laboratory. The concentration of pollutants in the river was used as the dependent variable, and seasonal variation was the independent variable. Therefore, those were the main variables that were used in the study. The variables seem appropriate.
References
Babbie, E. (2007). The Basics of Social Research. London: Cengage Learning.
Barbie , E. (2016). The Basics of Social Research. London: Cengage Learning.
Jackson, S. (2012). Research Methods and Statistics: A Critical Thinking Approach. London: Cengage Learning.
JHA. (2014). Social Research Methods. New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education (India) Pvt Ltd.
Rubin, A. (2012). Statistics for Evidence-Based Practice and Evaluation. London: Cengage Learning.
Terpening, W. (2011). Statistical Analysis for Business Using JMP: A Student's Guide. New York: SAS Institute.
Trochim, W., & Donnelly, J. (2008). The Research Methods Knowledge Base. London: Cengage Learning.
Vega, M., Pardo, R., Barrado , E., & Deba, L. (1998). ASSESSMENT OF SEASONAL AND POLLUTING EFFECTS ON THE QUALITY OF RIVER WATER BY EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS. Water Resources, 3581-3592.
