COMPARITIVE CRITIQUE

Comparitive Critique

Comparitive Critique

Introduction

The context of the study was to determine the elaborate on the relationship that exists between the degree of awareness regarding STDs and the manner in which the increase or decrease in awareness influences the incidence of the STDs (Ebrahim et al 2004). The research that has been carried out in this area began to take the spotlight around the middle of the last century and the frequency of researches in this area has continued to increase with the passage of time. It is essential to realize that the increase in research in this area comes as a direct need for the slashing of the increasing HIV and STD incidence rate (Detels et al 2003). As a result, it has become a commonplace practice for organizations to fund such researches.

Two articles were selected for the purpose of this critique based literature review (Bu and Liu 2004). The first article was based on the relationship between mass media and the incidence of HIV/AIDS in China. The research had been carried out by Li Li, Yao Lu, Zunyou Wu, Jihui Guan Chunquing Lin and Rotheram-Borus Mary Jane (China Ministry of Health, Joint United National Program on HIV/AIDS 2006). The study was published in December 2010 and first published in the Journal of Health Communication in 2009. The second article was a research carried out by Nakia C. Brown, Erika D. Taylor, Mesfin S. Mulatu, and Wakina Scott; and directed towards the assertion of the demographic correlates of HIV testing, high risk behaviors, and condom/STD consultation among a multi-ethnic sample of women (China Internet Information Center 2006). The article was published in December 2010 and was initially published in Women & Health in 2007.

It may initially appear somewhat absurd that the two research articles considered address two different regions; however, the fact that the problem being addressed here is present on a global scale expands the scope of the study to a similar context (Chang, Wang and Chen 1994). In addition, the element that comes in on account of the inclusion of the mass media into the equation makes it necessary for the research to consider the study to be of an exploratory nature.

The following paragraphs will shed light on these two articles in an attempt to highlight and critique the research design that the two have followed (Chatterjee 1999). The discussion will seek to enable the engagement of thorough analyses of the two articles in order to equip this researcher with a comprehensive understanding of the subject at hand and its key variables (China Academy of Broadcasting 2001).

Key dimensions that will be covered in this regard include the subject about which the studies have been performed, the methodology that the studies have followed and the credibility of the methodologies followed. This will enable the development of a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the two studies (Chatterjee 1999). The discussion will come to a concluding note by ascertaining the manner and degree to which the two considered researches ...