Stevens, 2010) Critique of a Literature Review: Essay

Stevens, 2010)

Critique of a Literature Review: Obesity Prevention Interventions for Middle-School Age Children of Ethnic Minority: A Review of the Literature

Are the search strategy and the search criteria clear? What is included in the search criteria?

The research strategy and search criteria are clearly outlined in several sections of the literature review paper. The author identifies the "search terms" and "purpose" of the review in the abstract of the paper. Stevens declares that the literature was searched for key terms related to the purpose of finding, "interventions to reduce obesity in middle school-age children of ethnic minority." These terms are: "African-American, Hispanic, intervention prevention program, middle school-age children, Native American, obesity, review." In the "Methods" section, the author elaborates on the search strategy by listing the databases that were used to find research papers and defining the time frame (September 2008 -- November 20008) of the search.The author declares that studies were considered only if the aim of the obesity prevention was to improve health through multicomponent activities.

2. Does the review rely on appropriate literature- research reports, primary sources? How do you know primary sources are used?

The review is based almost exclusively on primary studies in the research literature. The author lists the most pertinent research studies in Table 1: Obesity Prevention Intervention Studies for Middle-Age Children of Ethnic Minority in the paper. The databases used by the author include PubMed and Medline, and are reliable sources for primary source research studies. A brief review of the "References" section further corroborates the author's use of primary sources.

3. How does the author critically review the research? Does the author offer comparisons and contrasts of research findings in her review? Give….....