HLTH 225: Health Behavior: Critically Evaluate Information

An empirical article is an article that reports research based on actual observation or experiment; it may use either quantitative or qualitative research methods.

Need help determining if an article is empirical or not?

• In what kind of journal is this article published?
  • ​Empirical articles are published in academic or professional journals, such as Journal of American College Health, American Journal of Health Education, or JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association. 
• Does the article's abstract mention an observation, analysis or study?
  • ​Empirical research measures something, meaning empirical articles will typically contain data collection, survey results, interviews, or an assessment of some sort.
• Does the article contain the following sections:
  • Introduction
  • Methodology
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • References
• ​How many pages is the article?
  • ​Empirical articles are typically of substantial length- think at least 5+ pages.

Take several minutes and carefully evaluate the following articles to determine if they are 1. scholarly and 2. empirical. We will discuss them as a class.

1. Kanekar, A., Sharma, M., & Bennett, R. (2015). Using social cognitive theory to predict  safer sex behaviors in college students. American Journal of Health Studies, 30(2), 90-101.
2. Study questions effectiveness of social norms marketing campaigns. (2004). Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, 16(2), 5-6.
3. Grekin, E. R., & Ayna, D. (2012). Waterpipe smoking among college students in the United States: A review of the literature. Journal of American College Health, 60(3), 244-249.