The First Critical Appraisal Tool for Public Health Studies that Use Racial Taxonomy

The 20-item Critical Race Framework structures critical appraisal for public health studies that use racial taxonomy. It was designed for and tested by public health doctoral students and Ph.D.-holders. The CR Framework assumes that users have high familiarity with each key area of critical appraisal: reliability, validity, internal validity, and external validity. To request a copy, complete the form below.

Users must adhere to copyright regulations, which require obtaining permission from the copyright holder, Dr. Christopher Williams, for any reproduction, distribution, or modification of the tool. The tool can be used for educational purposes, such as in workshops and training sessions, provided that proper attribution is given and it is not used for commercial purposes without explicit authorization. Registration Number: TX 9-416-908.

Instructions: Advanced users apply the “Quality of Evidence” scale. The user aid briefly defines key concepts.

Using "Quality of Evidence" Scale

• High Quality Discussion - Directly addresses critical topic prompt; Supported by strong, sound reasoning and cited quality sources.

• Moderate Quality Discussion - Weakly or moderately addresses critical topic prompt; Leaves open many questions.

• Low Quality Discussion - Does not directly address critical topic prompt; suggestive text or citations are very weak.

• No Discussion - No discussion or citation related to critical topic prompt.