Article citation

Harner, H., Hanlon, A.L., & Garfinkel, M. (2010). Effect of Iyengar yoga on mental health of incarcerated women: A feasibility study. Nursing Research, 59(6), 389-399.

Title

The title is specific and concise, it is representative of the research report. From the title the focus of the study is understood including what was studied, who was studied, and where the study took place. It is also accurate and unambiguous. The title also described the study design, therefore the reader was not mislead on the data presented.

Researcher credibility

Each of the three researchers credentials and affiliations are disclosed on the first page of the article. All of the researchers have credentials in nursing …show more content…

The article discussed that this study was part of a larger study and a small sample size was expected. Exclusion criteria was clearly stated. Due to security issues the Department of Corrections generated and approved the list of potential participates before being contacted by the research team. This non-random sample or convenience sample generated 60 women, in which 21 agreed to participate in the intervention. Retention of the sample population was clearly defined in the article with only 6 women completing the 12-week intervention. Due to the security concerns this method of sampling was the best approach. All factors were discussed in regards to the sample size with demographics clearly defined. The sample size is important in quantitative research as a small sample is at risk of being overly representative of small subgroups within the target population (Coughlan, et. al., 2007). The issue of power was addressed in the limitations section and was noted to be limited for detecting linear trends over time.

Ethics

Ethical issues were discussed in this article. The authors state that informed consent was obtained in each case, although the method in which consent was obtained was changed prior to the first inmates appointment. The issue of incentive gifts was also addressed and were not used. The inmate did receive a certificate of completion at the end of