 When Jacob was an NKU student, he struggled to read through academic research articles. The information is presented in such a way that it can be difficult to comprehend without proper background knowledge. Jacob would struggle over charts and graphs, the terminology, and sometimes had a hard time identifying the purpose of the article. That's why he's here now, to help you become a more critical reader of sociology research. First, Jacob recommends always reading the abstract first. A good abstract will highlight the research question posed in the study, the methods used, and the results. While the abstract alone will not provide enough information to critique the work, it does help you get a sense of whether or not the information presented aligns with your research needs, and whether or not research is even being presented. Next, it's important to identify the research question and issue being studied. This may be presented in the abstract, but will be more detailed within the actual article itself. Further, in the initial portion of the article, the authors will often report what is called a gap in the literature, a question that has not been examined and is worth further study. The literature review will go on to highlight studies and theories that are relevant to the current study, but will also add further support to the gap that exists. Whether the research is quantitative or qualitative, the authors should always explain how they went about the study. This is the methods section. Here we find out if the authors used surveys, interviews, observations, or any other research methods. We also should learn about any sizes of the sample. After analyzing the results, the researchers present their findings in any related charts or graphs. The discussion section and the conclusion in research articles are extremely important. It focuses on interpreting and explaining the results. Authors will use these sections to offer practical suggestions for those working in relevant fields. These sections are also useful for identifying ideas for future research. Now, when Jacob reads research articles, he understands that studies are not perfect. Findings will not always match across studies, and researchers will not always agree with one another. Thinking about the impact this information might have will help you to not only engage with the text, but also apply it to your own ideas for research projects.