User:Michellevp16/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Positive psychology

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I am interested in positive psychology. I believe it is crucial for people to understand the impact positive psychology can have on society. The article is well written and informative.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

The lead section defines the topic concisely and accurately. Nonetheless, positive psychologists, as well as other psychologists in general, make sure to define that their work follows scientific research Defining positive psychology as "a field of psychological theory and research..." allows the reader to understand that positive psychology is different from non-scientific pop psychology. The rest of the lead section is well thought out introducing and pointing out the major sections ahead. It is essential to note that not all topics touched on in the lead section are thoroughly presented or touched on in the rest of the article. The following is not present later in the article: Rollo May. A hyperlink is presented; however, if the rest of the page does not contain any information about Rollo May later, is it essential in the lead section?

As for the content of this article, I believe the contents are aligned with the contents from the Psychology page. Additionally, the article is up to date. The article does address the criticism and equality gaps in positive psychology. Nonetheless, I believe it would be beneficial to add to the "Definition and basic assumptions" section of the article. As previously mentioned, the reader needs to identify that positive psychology is not the same as non-scientific pop psychology. Therefore, I believe the section previously mentioned needs to point out the basic assumptions of positive psychology to prevent myths and misunderstandings about the science of positive psychology. Even if the section would touch on how to identify if the scientific method is involved would be beneficial.

The article as a whole has a good tone and balance. The article is neutral and all viewpoints are touched on. Readers should be able to get a good understanding of the different theories, methods, applications, influences, and criticism in the field of positive psychology.

In general, the sources and references are from exceptional institutions that are known for their reliability and validity. For example, the American Psychological Association, Harvard University, United Nations, etc. Links that lead to the resources used in the article worked and were up to date.

The article's structure and writing style were maintained with clarity and professionalism. As previously mentioned, the article's structure maintains a similar structure to the content of the Psychology page. As always, there are simple things that can be changed like simplifying the wording for the reader to have a clearer idea of positive psychology.

As for the images and media of the article, I believe the article could benefit from additional images. The article only contains seven images. The addition of more images would help the reader get a better and simpler understanding of positive psychology, especially in the "Core theory and methods" and "Research advances and applications" sections.

Overall, this article allows readers to get a basic, clear, and concise idea about the study of positive psychology. The article accurately points out the research advances, applications, influences, and criticism found in positive psychology. Making sure the reader clearly understands the distinction between non-scientific pop psychology and positive psychology is the one major recommendation I would make. Other minor suggestions that would aid the reader to have an easier time understanding certain sections would be the simplification of certain wording and the addition of images.