Instructions

Find an article (first published in the last 180 days) dealing with a genetics research study. The article must address a specific hypothesis and discuss the testing of it. The article can come from a newspaper, magazine or other periodical.

 

To complete this assignment, you should

1. Select a paper covering an appropriate genetics-focused research study.

a. Your source must be a periodicalnot a static site such as a government report, policy statement, etc.

b. News aggregators are not an acceptable source, nor are press releases (ex. cnn.com, news360).

c. The article you use must have an author listed in the byline.

d. Blog posts are also generally off-limits, since they are usually summaries of something rather than actual reporting. However, sometimes blogs are acceptable sources, so check with me if you find something interesting.

e. No book reviews, movie reviews, etc.

f. I also do not want sources from primary literature (original research, for example).

g. If you dont understand your article, find a different one.

2. Analyze the paper and write your analysis, paying special attention to the guidelines listed below.

a. The essay should be approximately 1000 words (+/-300 words). Keep your essay within this range.

b. You need to address the following (please use specific headings to indicate this information):

i. What hypothesis was tested?

ii. How was it tested?

iii. Was the hypothesis supported or rejected?

iv. Is the sponsor of the science mentioned? This could be a university where research was conducted, a company that supplied funding, etc.  Do you think the sponsor may have influenced the science? By that I mean do you think the source of funding could lead to a conflict of interest?

v. What are some implications of this research?

c. Attach the article to your assignment (or copy a link). You do not need to summarize the article, since it will be attached to your critique

3. Compose your paper in an MS Word document.

 

Additional Information:
I expect finding an article will take about two hours. Writing a good critique will take considerably more than 15 minutes, probably two hours with proofreading and revising (if not more).

Use complete sentences and be sure to proofread your work.  I will deduct points for poorly written responses as well as for poorly thought-out ones.

As with all of your academic work, be sure to follow good procedures of Academic Integrity.  Failure to do so will result in a zero on this assignment and additional penalties.

Remember, the hypotheses are being tested. The experiment should shed light on whether the hypothesis should be accepted/rejected, but it is not establishing an absolute truth.

No direct quotesput things in your own words.

 

Expectations

Your grade on this project will be based on the your ability to thoroughly identify and communicate the specified information.