Stevens, 2010) Critique of a Literature Review:

¶ … 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 an example of a comparison or contrast that she makes.

The author consistently relates the studies and elucidates the limitations and contradictions between studies. An example of a contrast can be found in the "Findings" section where the author speaks about gender differences across obesity prevention program outcomes. The author writes, "Some studies suggested no gender differences over time (Gortmaker et al., 1999; Patrick et al. 2001). Other gender differences included overall reduced television time in both boys and girls, and a decrease in dietary fat intake for girls (Burke et al., 1998; McMurray et al., 2002; Stolley & Fitzgibbon, 1997)" (Stevens, 235).

4. Does the author use appropriate language indicating tentativeness of research findings?

The author consistently uses qualifiers such as "may" and "suggest," to indicate tentativeness of the research findings. The author also explains that care should be taken in the interpretation of certain study outcomes. Stevens writes, "Caution should be taken in interpreting this as a motivation for healthy lifestyle change because the computer-tailored feedback was only one component of the PACE intervention (Patrick et al., 2001)" (Stevens, 238).

5. What implications for clinical practice does the author suggest based on her systematic review of the literature on the topic?