The Introduction:

The research article titled “EFFECTS OF DEPRESSION ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE” is the one I have chosen for my critique. It is penned by Shumaila
Khurshid, Qaisara Perveen, Dr. Abid G. Chaudhry and M.I Yousuf, which directs the reader’s
attention towards the silent killer that takes lives without giving a notice or a sentence of a
person, and is considered a sadistic vice- ‘Depression’[CITATION 123 \l 1033 ]. It is defined as
feelings of severe despondency and dejection. It is considered as the most common mental
illness in the world, which is commonly found in women [ CITATION 123 \l 1033 ] . Therefore, the
target population of this research revolved around the students of Govt. Colleges Women of
Rawalpindi.

The Summary:

Depression is an emotional problem which arises from hopelessness and helplessness. Since it is
reckoned as a mental disorder, in psychiatric term it is referred as ‘psychiatric cold’- just like
cold blocks our nose and we face difficulty in beathing, similarly depression refrains a person
from thinking straight and using his brain. The article expounds about the effects of depression
on students and their academic performance. To probe into the matter further, the researchers
chalked out their objectives for the study which basically revolved around the effects of
depression on students’ academic performance, and to measure the level of depression on the
students. For data collection two questionnaires were made based on Depression Screening Test
by Ivan Goldberg- for students and “Academic Performance Rating Scale” (APRS)- for teachers.
Based on the result obtained via these questionnaires, the investigators drafted out certain
hypotheses and carried out a Chi-Square and paired sample t test on them. The results of the Chi-
Square affirmed the hypothesis that depression has a negative impact on studies, and that
learners having low, medium and high levels of depression also show negative influence on their
academic performances according to the level of depression they possess. Recommendations
befitting the findings of their research were given like introducing health service in colleges,
teachers must keep their antenna raised for depressed students and conduction of awareness
programs for the suffering learners.

The Critique:
The researchers discussed an important topic- depression in this article at a great length.
Depression, not only disturbs a person’s feelings, but can negatively affect his behavior, physical
health and appearance, academic performance, social activities, and the ability to make decisions in
everyday life. Depression is a very big topic to discuss, therefore, this research could have been
extended more, like the target population (women) should not have been confined to one College
only. Instead, the researchers could have selected different colleges of Rawalpindi. Yes, the
researchers have mentioned in the suggestions part of their article Point 1 that the future research
should be conducted on the female students of the private colleges, but in my opinion the future
research must be conducted on co-ed colleges of the City both private and Govt., the result would
have been more refined. Then they could have compared the depression levels in the form of
percentages of female students from both private and Govt. colleges (as mentioned in Point 2 of
the suggestions for future research)

The tool used for data collection was questionnaire which was apt according to the research, as
they are the effective means of measuring the behavior, attitudes, preferences, opinions and,
intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more cheaply and quickly than other
methods[ CITATION Sau18 \l 1033 ]. Since the topic of the article was quite sensitive plus the target
population was women so from the anthropological point of view, I think the investigators
should have conducted their research using Ethnography for this article. According to Jack
Caulfield, Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a
particular community or organization to observe their behavior and interactions up close. It is a
flexible research method that allows you to gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared
culture, conventions, and social dynamics [ CITATION Jac20 \l 1033 ] . By using this method, the
researcher would have done in-depth interviews with the target population and would have found
several other reasons of depression in women. If they had carried out their interviews by visiting
their houses, neighborhoods and going to their friends’ places personally, and gleaning out the
information from there about them; they might have found out other reasons that became the cause
of their depression like gender discrimination in their houses, child abuse, pressure of early
marriage, unhealthy relation of parents, domestic violence, sexual harassment at college and at
public places, bullying at college etc. Then, the hypotheses constructed based on this information
would have been different in the article.
The data analysis of the article was calculated via Chi-Square, and the tables and charts constructed
appeared quite confusing to me. According to the research carried out by the Sociology
Department of the University of Utah, Chi-square has certain limitations, it is sensitive to sample
size i.e., as the sample size increases the absolute difference decreases; and it can only tell
relationship between two variables.  It does not necessarily imply that one variable has any causal
effect on the other. In order to establish causality, a more detailed analysis would be
required[ CITATION The21 \l 1033 ] . The researchers could have opted for a Pie-Chart because the
‘great strength of the pie is that we are really good at reading them’ [ CITATION Dis21 \l 1033 ].
This could have given a clearer picture to the readers too. Later in the article, the researchers
compared their results with the previously conducted researches, which was quite intriguing as we
could see the difference of opinions there.

The recommendations of the articles were good, but here I would like to add some more here. It
was said in the article that students should be counselled, here I would like to suggest the along
with the learners their parents must be counselled and educated about depression and its
consequences. Like teachers in school (as mentioned in the article), parents must also be vigilant at
home and observe their children’s behaviour under a watchful eye. A Counselling Cell must be
merged with the college and must appoint a psychiatrist in it for their (learners’) consultation,
which would help them in recalling them back to life.

The Conclusion:

The topic chosen for this article was very thought provoking and gave the relevant insights about
it. Depression is a mental disorder, which must be dealt with great scrutiny. People suffering from
depression can go to any extent to harm themselves. To mitigate this extremity of depression, the
scholars of this articles tried their best to reach to the root cause of the latter, in their own way,
which was admirable. However, in future the researches must be conducted at a vast level in order
to get a better picture of the problem at hand.
References:
Admin, D. (2021). DISPLAYR BLOG. Retrieved from Why Pie Charts Are Better Than Bar
Charts: https://www.displayr.com/why-pie-charts-are-better-than-bar-charts/
Caulfied, J. (2020, March 13). Scribbr. Retrieved from A guide to ethnography:
https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/ethnography/
Essay About Depression. (n.d.). Retrieved from 123 Help Me:
https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Essay-About-Depression-549792
MCLeod, S. (2018). Simply Psychology. Retrieved from Questionnaire: definition, examples,
design and types. : https://www.simplypsychology.org/questionnaires.html
UTAH, T. U. (2021). Sociology 3112, Dept. of Sociology. Retrieved from THE CHI-SQUARE
TEST FOR INDEPENDENCE: https://soc.utah.edu/sociology3112/chi-square.php