Skip to Main Content

KINE 231 Library Tutorial

This guide is intended to support students taking Donna Perry's KINE 231 course.

What are primary research articles?

For most of your KINE research assignments, you are required to use original research articles. Your instructors may refer to these as empirical articles or primary research articles. 

Learn more about the difference between original research articles and review articles in the videos below.

How are primary research articles organized?

Primary research articles often follow a common organization. Watch the video below to learn how to easily identify this type of article. 

How can I identify a primary research article in a database?

Need to see an example of a primary research article? Watch the video below to see how you can identify primary research articles within the library's databases. 

What can I find in each section of a research article?

Introduction
  • Provides the background and motivation for the study
  • Explains why the authors felt it was important to undertake the study
  • This is where you're most likely to find the research question that guides the study
  • This section may not be labelled and may be combined with a literature review section
Literature Review
  • Reviews previous research
  • Shows what is already known about the research topic
  • Contains more in-text citations than any other part of the paper
  • This section may be combined with the introduction. It may also have descriptive headings
Methods 
  • How the study was conducted
  • May contain the following subsections: Participants, Design, Materials or Apparatus, and Procedure
  • Should provide enough detail so that other researchers could replicate the same study
  • May also be called Method, Materials and Methods, Methodology, or Research Design
Results
  • What the study found 
  • Describes the data collected
  • Graphs and charts may be used to communicate the results
  • Does not interpret the results 
Discussion
  • What the authors think the results mean 
  • The authors interpret the results and provide an answer to their research question
  • May include the study's limitations 
  • May provide explanations for differences between the results of the study and other similar studies
Conclusion
  • Final thoughts and suggestions for what should be researched next