Factors Associated with Wheezing among Lebanese Children (Research Paper Sample)

Critical Appraisal and Research Proposal
215495
Anglia Ruskin University
April 2022
Introduction to the Assignment
This is a critical appraisal of Malaeb et al. (2020) paper on factors associated with wheezing among Lebanese children. This was a cross-sectional study running from December 2015 to April 2016 and was published in the journal of Allergologia et Immunopathologia. Wheezing affects between 30 and 50% of children, and researchers wanted to determine the factors associated with this widespread health concern. The study sampled 1203 children of 4-17 years attending six schools in Lebanon. After a series of analyses, the study concluded that pesticides, humidity and reflux disease were seemingly associated with wheezing among children.
This paper seeks to review this study critically. The review follows Benton and Cormack’s (2000) Critiquing Framework. It is a thorough framework that covers the critical components of a research paper.
A research proposal has also been developed after the appraisal. The research proposal seeks to identify the risk factors associated with Leishmaniasis among Kenyan males.
Critical Appraisal
Title
The title is well written, and readers will quickly know what the study is all about. It is explicit enough to indicate the research approach used. From the title, readers will see that it was a cross-sectional observational study that sampled the research population at one point in time.
The title is also clear about the research population - Lebanese children. Readers, however, need to get deeper into the journal to know the exact ages of the research population.
Another issue is that the title is not indicated on the download. If you had to share the pdf, readers would struggle to know what the paper is all about.
Authors
The two co-authors are from the School of Pharmacy and Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences. That gives the assurance that the researchers had a background in health.
Readers, however, would have loved to know the exact level of their academic qualifications and years of experience. These details would have backed the authors’ ability to conduct research and accord more credibility to the paper.
Abstract
The study has an abstract that features the background, methods, results, and conclusion. A closer look, however, does not explicitly identify the research problem. It does not show the prevalence of wheezing and possible detrimental health impacts among Lebanese children.
The abstract features a little methodology, only mentioning the study time and sample size. The abstract does not summarize more on the methods used, such as the sampling techniques and data analysis. The reader will need to dive deeper to find such essential research nuggets.
The abstract does an excellent job of outlining the sample subjects and significant findings.