One related issue is when researchers may be seen to have a 'conflict of interest'
For example, one of the studies mentioned in Chapter 2 (Macaruso et al., 2006) found that computer-based supplementary phonics software enabled students considered to be 'low performing' to catch up with their classmates.
The second author of the paper, Hook, was a consultant involved in the design of the software.
The third author, McCabe, was actually the Director of Research and Product Management at the company that developed the software.
This is something the reader may wish to bear in mind when reading the study. However, these affiliations are reported at the end of the study, so that the potential 'conflict of interest' is acknowledged.
Whilst ideally we might prefer an evaluation of the software that can be seen as independent, the developing company is both prepared to support research into their products (which may not happen otherwise), and presumably highly motivated to use the findings from research to improve and develop their software.
is the focus appropriately conceptualized in the research?
There are many different ways that a project can be conceptualized.
Any research paper will have a specific focus and/or research questions), and the first part of any research account is usually setting the scene for the research by offering a way of thinking about the research context.
This introductory section of a paper will explain key ideas that are being used to think about the research, and will discuss existing literature the author thinks especially relevant (see Chapter 3).