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How to demonstrate critical evaluation in your psychology assignments

Thinking critically about psychology research

Critical thinking is often taught in undergraduate psychology degrees, and is a key marking criteria for higher marks in many assignments. But getting your head around how to write critically can sometimes be difficult. It can take practice. The aim of this short blog is to provide an introduction to critical evaluation, and how to start including evidence of critical evaluation in your psychology assignments.

So what does “critical evaluation” really mean?

Broadly speaking, critical evaluation is the process of thinking and writing critically about the quality of the sources of evidence used to support or refute an argument. By “ evidence “, I mean the literature you cite (e.g., a journal article or book chapter). By “ quality   of the evidence “, I mean thinking about whether this topic has been tested is in a robust way. If the quality of the sources is poor, then this could suggest poor support for your argument, and vice versa. Even if the quality is poor, this is important to discuss in your assignments as evidence of critical thinking in this way!

In the rest of this blog, I outline a few different ways you can start to implement critical thinking into your work and reading of psychology. I talk about the quality of the evidence, a few pointers for critiquing the methods, theoretical and practical critical evaluation too. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it’ll help you to start getting those higher-level marks in psychology. I also include an example write-up at the end to illustrate how to write all of this up!

The quality of the evidence

There are different types of study designs in psychology research, but some are of higher quality than others. The higher the quality of the evidence, the stronger the support for your argument the research offers, because the idea has been tested more rigorously. The pyramid image below can really help to explain what we mean by “quality of evidence”, by showing different study designs in the order of their quality. 

Not every area of psychology is going to be full of high quality studies, and even the strongest sources of evidence (i.e., systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses) can have limitations! Because no study is perfect, it can be a good habit to tell the reader, in your report, (i) what the  design  of the study is that you’re citing, AND, (ii)  how  this affects your argument. Doing so would be evidence of critical thought. (See an example write-up below for implementing this, but do not copy and paste it!) 

But first, what do I mean by “design”? The design of the study refers to  how  the study was carried out. There are sometimes broad categories of design that you’ll have heard of, like a ‘survey design’, ‘a review paper’, or an ‘experimental design’. Within these categories, though, there can be more specific types of design (e.g. a  cross-sectional  survey design, or a  longitudinal  survey design; a  randomised controlled  experiment or a  simple pre-post  experiment). Knowing these specific types of design is a good place to start when thinking about how to critique the evidence when citing your sources, and the image below can help with that. 

Image source: https://thelogicofscience.com/2016/01/12/the-hierarchy-of-evidence-is-the-studys-design-robust/

In summary, there are various types of designs in psychology research. To name a few from the image above, we have: a meta-analysis or a systematic review (a review paper that summarises the research that explores the same research question); a cross-sectional survey study (a questionnaire that people complete once – these are really common in psychology!). If you’re not familiar with these, I would  highly suggest  doing a bit of reading around these methods and some of their general limitations – you can then use these limitation points in your assignments! To help with this, you could do a Google Scholar search for ‘limitations of a cross-sectional study’, or ‘why are randomised control trials gold standard?’. You can use any published papers as further support as a limitation.

Methodological critical evaluation

• Internal validity: Are the findings or the measures used in the study reliable (e.g., have they been replicated by another study, and is the reliability high)? 
• External validity: Are there any biases in the study that might affect generalisability(e.g., gender bias, where one gender may be overrepresented for the population in the sample recruited)?  Lack of generalisability is a common limitation that undergraduates tend to use by default as a limitation in their reports. It’s a perfectly valid limitation, but it can usually be made much more impactful by explaining exactly  how  it’s a problem for the topic of study. In some cases, this limitation may not be all that warranted; for example, a female bias may be expected in a sample of psychology students, because undergraduate courses tend to be filled mostly with females! 
• What is the design of the study, and how it a good or bad quality design (randomised control trial, cross-sectional study)? 

Theoretical critical evaluation

• Do the findings in the literature support the relevant psychological theories?
• Have the findings been replicated in another study? (If so, say so and add a reference!)

Practical critical evaluation

• In the real world, how easy would it be to implement these findings?
• Have these findings been implemented? (If so, you could find out if this has been done well!)

Summary points

In summary, there are various types of designs in psychology research. To name a few from the image above, we have: a meta-analysis or a systematic review (a review paper that summarises the research that explores the same research question); a cross-sectional survey study (a questionnaire that people complete once – these are really common in psychology!). If you’re not familiar with these, I would highly suggest doing a bit of reading around these methods and some of their general limitations – you can then use these limitation points in your assignments! To help with this, I would do a Google Scholar search for ‘limitations of a cross-sectional study’, or ‘why are randomised control trials gold standard?’. You can use these papers as further support as a limitation.

You don’t have to use all of these points in your writing, these are just examples of how you can demonstrate critical thinking in your work. Try to use at least a couple in any assignment. Here is an example of how to write these up:

An example write-up

“Depression and anxiety are generally associated with each other (see the meta-analysis by [reference here]). For example, one of these studies was a cross-sectional study [reference here] with 500 undergraduate psychology students. The researchers found that depression and anxiety (measured using the DASS-21 measure) were correlated at  r  = .76, indicating a strong effect. However, this one study is limited in that it used a cross-sectional design, which do not tell us whether depression causes anxiety or whether anxiety causes depression; it just tells us that they are correlated. It’s also limited in that the participants are not a clinical sample, which does not tell us about whether these are clinically co-morbid constructs. Finally, a strength of this study is that it used the DASS-21 which is generally found to be a reliable measure. Future studies would therefore benefit from using a longitudinal design to gain an idea as to how these variables are causally related to one another, and use more clinical samples to understand the implications for clinical practice. Overall, however, the research generally suggests that depression and anxiety are associated. That there is a meta-analysis on this topic [reference here], showing that there is lots of evidence, suggests that this finding is generally well-accepted.”

• Notice how I first found a review paper on the topic to broadly tell the reader how much evidence there is in the first place. I set the scene of the paragraph with the first sentence, and then the last sentence I brought it back, rounding the paragraph off. 
• Notice how I then described one study from this paper in more detail. Specifically, I mentioned the participants, the design of the study and the measure the researchers used to assess these variables. Critically, I then described  how  each of these pieces of the method are disadvantages/strengths of the study. Sometimes, it’s enough to just say “the study was limited in that it was a cross-sectional study”, but it can really show that you are thinking critically, if you also add “… because it does not tell us….”. 
• Notice how I added a statistic there to further illustrate my point (in this case, it was the correlation coefficient), showing that I didn’t just read the abstract of the paper. Doing this for the effect sizes in a study can also help demonstrate to a reader that you understand statistics (a higher-level marking criteria). 

Are these points you can include in your own work?

Thanks for reading,

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How to Write a Critical Evaluation Essay in Psychology?

If you worry about writing a critical evaluation essay in psychology, you are in the right place. Writing it is not as easy as posting an angry comment online of a biased article though it is also a critical evaluation. Moreover, it requires a lot of critical reading as many authors gain trust by using rhetorical techniques. Hence only with critical thinking of the thoroughly read subject and with the right approach you can craft an excellent critical evaluation essay. But with the evaluating content being a complicated literature article, or a work of art or a nonfiction piece, it is challenging to analyze it. Hence, check the critical evaluation essay psychology’s characteristics, importance, and many tips to write it effectively to get good grades.

Get Help With Your Critical Evaluation in Psychology

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What Is a Critical Evaluation Essay in Psychology?

Critical evaluating essay in psychology is a form of academic writing for analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating psychology literature, film, or any text. You should claim the specific ideas or themes conveyed in the text and support it with evidence from primary or secondary sources. Hence getting help from professional essay writing services for the right critical evaluation essay template is advisable.

What Are the Characteristics of a Critical Evaluating Essay in Psychology?

Though the word critical in casual conversation means taking a negative point of view, it is mere discerning and analytical in academic writing . An essay becomes critical only when its topic takes the form of a thesis to include the claim about the text’s themes and the ideas the author conveys, and the techniques used to communicate it. Moreover, the thesis may be either supportive or disputable by taking evidence only from the text. Hence it becomes the powerful central claim of the text itself. Hence the following are the characteristics of critical evaluating essay psychology.

• The central claim is one of the important characteristics in all the critical evaluating essays. Hence there should be a central claim about text, and the argument should get typically expressed at the start of the essay as a thesis statement.
• Evidence supporting the central claim taken from the text itself should support the thesis statement in all the essay body paragraphs.
• The conclusion should summarize the essay argument’s trajectory and emphasize the essay’s most critical insights.

Hence to write a critical evaluation essay in psychology with all the above characteristics, it is best to have the right critical evaluation essay format from professional essay writing services.

Read More:  Research Topics in Psychology for College Students

Importance of Critical Evaluating Essay in Psychology:

The critical evaluating essay’s significant purpose is to inform the reader about a subject with an explanation of its meaning and its objective. Hence you need to present your personal point of view by critically analyzing the subject. The subject topics may range from analyzing a psychological film, historical event, book, or complex social and political issues. Since it is a form of observation and evaluation of subjective analysis, it helps the reader better understand the subject. It also helps the reader analyze the various controversial points of view on the subject’s significance rather than judging its quality. Hence the importance of the critical evaluating essay is increasing because of the rising need for literature reviews.

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Tips for Writing Critical Evaluating Essay Psychology:

Knowing what a critical evaluation essay in psychology is, its characteristics and its importance, it is time to know how to write it effectively. In the UK, many universities prefer the “PROMPT” system to write it. It is a structured approach that includes Provenance, Relevance, Objectivity, Presentation and Timeliness. However, many ways to write it require a meticulous argument building process and vigorous analysis. Hence the following tips will help you do it easily and quickly.

Also Read:  How To Write An Excellent Psychology Case Study Report?

It is pertinent to avoid common mistakes while writing a critical evaluating essay, As it is subjective and uses only the right critical evaluation essay phrases.

• The most important thing to remember while writing is to keep the tone formal and academic and not use any slang or familiarities from the critical evaluation essay introduction to the conclusion.
• Since the essay is significantly about your point of view supported by others’ work, do not base the entire essay on their work.
• Ensure the matter of interest in the essay is only your point of view of the subject rather than the subject itself.
• It is best to reference the work of others while using it as supporting evidence for your point of view to avoid plagiarism.
• Focus only on the analysis of the subject and avoid any description of it in the essay.
• Confirm that you are writing the essay following a good structure and make sure you support your point of view with enough evidence.
• Always double check to present the essay perfectly with a logical sequence of arguments for easy understanding of the reader.
• Though having a solid point of view on the subject, please read it carefully to view it from multiple perspectives to be more open-minded and aim.
• By carefully thinking about your reaction and response to the subject, make sure that your opinions are never offensive to anyone.
• Start writing the essay by drafting it to include an overview of the subject, its key points and grab the reader’s attention to your thesis statement.
• Write a new point of view for the analysis in each paragraph avoiding extreme bias, and be fair to any varying needs to support your arguments.
• Write a critical evaluation essay outline in the following critical evaluation essay format.

Also Read: Tips To Write An Excellent Case Study Report In Psychology

• Background information
• Information about publication
• Topic & purpose
• Thesis statement
• Critical evaluation

Case Study Help’s critical evaluation essay psychology and the tips will surely help you write it effectively to get good grades. But if you need more information or a critical evaluation essay example, contact the best essay writing services. We will guide you to write in the right critical evaluation essay format with expert guidance and support. Tap on the link  Casestudyhelp.com  for more information!

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Evaluating Psychological Theories

Travis Dixon October 26, 2016 Assessment (IB) , Research Methodology

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Updated Aug 2020

Remember that before you can begin to evaluate a psychological theory you must first know and understand  the theory in question. Once you know and understand the theory, including what it is a theory of (i.e. what it’s attempt to explain and how) and the key components of the theory, you can then begin your evaluation.

• Let’s make a D.E.A.L – evaluating theories in three simple steps
• How to evaluate any study in 3 simple steps

I try my hardest not to do my own evaluations of research on this blog (or in my classroom). I see it as my job to provide students with the tools to conduct their own evaluations, hence this particular post. If I do the evaluation for you I am reducing the critical thinking to mere remembering. The same applies for evaluating studies.

Questions to Ask When Evaluating Theories

Where’s the supporting evidence.

Click the image to download your free revision guide preview.

A good first step in evaluating a psychological theory is to find the evidence that supports the theory. You need to be able to describe at least one relevant study and then to explain how that study supports the theory. This should be relatively easy for most theories and most researchers who propose the theory have also conducted the supporting research.

A logical second step is to find evidence (e.g. a study) that contradicts the theory. i.e. the study suggests the theory is inaccurate. You can then describe and explain the contradictory study.

What are the strengths and/or limitations of supporting evidence?

You can also provide a methodological critique of the supporting studies. This is another way of demonstrating critical thinking because you are evaluating the theory by evaluating its supporting evidence.

You can read more about how to evaluate psychological studies here .

To what extent is the theory applicable?

A theory generally attempts to explain some aspect of human behaviour or mental processes, so you can evaluate a theory by looking at the extent to which the theory can explain one or more examples of the behaviour/s in question.

For instance, the Multi-store Model of Memory attempts to explain memory formation. Can it explain  all  types of memory? Can it, for instance, explain procedural memory? (I’m not saying it can’t, I’m just asking the question for you to answer!)

Are there some instances that the theory cannot be applied? This is valuable critical thinking practice.

Are there alternative explanations available?

If a psychological theory is the only plausible explanation then it’s probably a pretty strong theory. However, what if other explanations are available? This is a good way to evaluate and discuss psychological theories.

For instance, Realistic Conflict Theory can be used to explain inter-group conflict as the result of competition for resources. However, Social Identity Theory suggests that inter-group conflict can occur without competition for resources. Here we have two theories attempting to explain the same phenomenon (inter-group conflict) with different explanations.

Other alternative explanations could come from a different level of analysis. For instance, a biological explanation of behaviour could be offered to critique a social explanation. Does inter-group competition happen between  all  groups? What about groups of men versus groups of women. Perhaps there are biological differences between the genders which results in a lot more riots at soccer matches than at netball matches.

Remember you can’t evaluate a theory until you actually understand what the theory is trying to explain. Therefore, make sure you fully comprehend the theory and can summarize it clearly before tackling an evaluation.

Is there a better explanation available?

An excellent way to approach psychological theories is to look for alternative explanations (as outlined above). You might even be able to find better explanations than the theory you are evaluating has provided. This is really extended your knowledge of psychological theories and is a very challenging piece of critical thinking.

Is the theory applicable cross-culturally?

If a theory is claiming to be able to explain human behaviour and/or mental processes, then it should be able to be applied across different cultures. Most psychological theories are developed in Western countries and so it’s relevant and useful to challenge the extent to which these theories can be applied in different cultural contexts.

A useful understanding of Hoefstede’s theory of cultural dimensions (e.g. individualism and collectivism) is useful here.

Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.