Guidelines for Research Critiques

CpSc 873

Your critique should be a blend of summary and evaluation. Base your evaluation on facts as much as possible. Where you express personal opinion clearly qualify the statement as such.

Introduction

Summarize the research problem in your own words.

Give an evaluation of the importance of this problem to daily practice of software engineering.

Describe any ambiguities in the problem statement.

Background

Are all the relevant terms defined?

Are the definitions understandable?

Is the literature cited adequate?

Research Method

Is this an analytic or experimental study?

How appropriate is the selected method?

What design is being used?

How is the validity of the research ensured?

Hypotheses

Describe the research hypotheses that are used to test the research problem.

Are the hypotheses stated adequately for the research method being used?

Is it clear how the hypotheses relate to the original research problem?

Data Issues

Is the description of the data being collected sufficiently complete to judge its adequacy?

Is data collected in a way that ensures its integrity?

Are the analysis techniques appropriate for the hypotheses/research method?

Results

Are the results related back to the research question?

Have the authors reached reasonable conclusions based on the data and the technique?

Have the authors sufficiently proved their case that you would change your engineering practice based on the information presented in this paper?

Grading Criteria: Quality of analysis, completeness of analysis, clarity of description and organization in that order of importance.