Assessment of the Risk Related to Keeping Poultry and Livestock by Farmers

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1. General Description
The study by Freeman (1) is about the assessment of the risk related to keeping poultry and
livestock by farmers. The paper has a standard logical construction i.e. it has the introduction,
methods, results and conclusions. Furthermore, the abstract is provided under the same
subheadings. The paper is written in a clear and comprehensible manner because every section is
subdivided under relevant subheadings, the English used is straight forward and simple, the
outcomes are presented in a table and then followed by descriptions. These make it easy for the
ready to scan through and even read and understand. There are no noticeable grammatical or
typographical errors and if there be then they must be minimal. Furthermore, the paper is a peer-
reviewed journal, and therefore one would expect minimal grammatical or typographical errors.
2. Article Critique
2.1 Title and Abstract and Keywords
The title and abstract present a clear summary of the paper. The title alone informs the reader of
the population being studied, what is being investigated and the possible outcomes. furthermore,
the abstract has been presented under the subheadings of the whole structure of the article such
as introduction, methods, results and conclusions. According to STROBE guidelines (2) of
reporting, the title should hint to the reader what the stud is all about. The authors have also
noted the keywords used in the research, and they appear appropriate because they represent the
keywords found in the research title and research question.
2.2 Introduction
The introduction is appropriate for the subject of study because it first gives a broader
background perspective and then cites previous studies on the same topic and their findings
concerning the current study. Then the researchers point out an existing knowledge gap that
needs to fill by the current study. The literature review is relevant but not comprehensive. It is

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relevant in the sense that it has appropriate information for the research subject and the cited
literature is current (i.e. published within the last 10 years). It is however not comprehensive
because only seven studies have been cited and there are no descriptions of the research designs,
research topics, methodology and statistical findings. The study appears original in concept
because it first outlines the previous studies in relation to the current research topic and then
points out the research gap. There is a logical flow of the aim of the study based on the reviewed
literature and it is clearly stated at the end of the literature review. However, the study doesn’t
state a null hypothesis.
2.3 Materials and Methods
The study design is consistent with the aim of the study because it examines a prospective cohort
study on private agricultural farmers who are licensed pesticide applicators. A prospective cohort
study was appropriate in achieving the aim of the study because it allows the researchers to
follow a group of subjects with similar characteristics over time concerning some factors under
assessment to ascertain the impact of these factors on the outcome (3). However, there was no
pilot study carried out to test the methodology. This might be a source of weakness to the study
because the methodology of a prospective study on the current research topic was not tested
using pilot study for feasibility, adverse events (4) etc. to improve on it.
The sample (49,884) was highly representative of the target population (57,310) because it
represented over 80% of the population. A highly representative sample improves the validity
and reliability of the study because the conclusions can be taken as the true state of the general
population (5). Controls were required in the study were effectively used. The controls were
appropriately used. For instance, the authors controlled for pesticides related to certain types of
cancer, control for smoking to ascertain increased risks for lung cancer among others. these