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Research Limitations and Assessing Its Quality in the Field of Health Psychology: A Mixed-Methods Research
Razieh Esmaeili1 , Keyvan Salehi *2
1- University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2- Department of Methods, Educational Planning and Curriculum, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran , keyvansalehi@ut.ac.ir
Abstract:   (43 Views)
The study's limitations indicate weaknesses in the research design that were beyond the control of the researcher and may influence the results. Researchers have a responsibility to the scientific community to report these limitations fully and honestly. Therefore, elucidating the concept of research limitations is of significant importance. This study utilized a two-phase exploratory mixed-methods design. In Phase 1, a documentary method was conducted by systematically retrieving data from five academic databases (SID, Ganj IranDoc, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed). In Phase 2, a survey-based evaluation was performed to assess the reporting quality of limitations in scientific articles published in the Health Psychology journal during 2021–2022 (1401–1402 Persian calendar). From a pool of 40 retrieved articles, 21 documents were selected for detailed analysis using the PRISMA checklist criteria. Data was selected and analyzed using the Altheide's method. The findings showed that the concept of research limitations resulted in identifying two controllable and uncontrollable factors. Including the indicators related to the limitation criteria to limit the scope of the study, the inefficiency of the data collection tool, deficiency in collecting accurate data, small sample size, non-random sampling method, internal validity, external validity, and uncontrollability factors, including the limitation indicators to limit the scope of the study was the ineffectiveness of the data collection tool, lack of accurate data collection, small sample size, non-random sampling method, internal validity, external validity. The findings revealed that only 19% of the assessed articles reported their research limitations after identifying the evaluation indicators for research limitations, leaving 81% of the indicators unaddressed. This indicates widespread neglect among authors, educators, journals, and reviewers in articulating the nature and precise evaluation of research limitations. In light of the identified barriers and constraints, suggestions were made to enrich this crucial aspect of scientific research.
Keywords: Research Ethics, Health Psychology, Research Method, Research Delimitations, Research Limitations, Mixed Approach
     
Type of Study: Research | Subject: General
Received: 2024/05/16 | Revised: 2025/07/10 | Accepted: 2025/05/29 | ePublished ahead of print: 2025/07/10
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