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Study Skills Study Skills & numeracy language skills

and Access Unit

Critical Thinking (Analysing texts)

Critical thinking involves going beyond what appears on the surface and teasing
apart issues, opinions and underlying assumptions. We think critically on a daily
basis as we make decisions about, for example, what to buy weighing up
costs and benefits or who to trust or believe: will that advertised product
really do all they say it will?

At university, critical thinking is developed further and applied to complex

concepts from a broad range of sources. It can be used to critically evaluate and
analyse material, assessing it for reliability and relevance.

You will be expected to use active study methods, relating new ideas and
concepts to previous knowledge and experiences. As you develop your critical
thinking skills, you should become accustomed to seeking the big picture and to
be more critical and thoughtful about the ideas and information you encounter.
Assessing new information and re-examining what you already know in light of
new material should become automatic.

Critical thinking is a vital part of academic essay and report writing. It is also a
valuable transferable skill that can be carried over into the workplace and
everyday life. Many employers list critical thinking as an essential skill when
recruiting graduate employees.

So what does this mean in practice? The following section will look at one way to
apply critical thinking as you study. There are many approaches to critically
analysing material, but the following framework can help you practise and
develop these skills until you are comfortable creating and using your own
methods.

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How do I develop critical thinking skills?

Critical thinking skills can be learned, practised and improved. A framework that
can help develop and practise these thinking skills is 'Triple A' approach to
critical thinking (Tamblin and Ward 2006):

1. Acquaint
2. Analyse
3. Advance

Acquaint

yourself with the relevant information. (for example):

Reading lists
Lectures and tutorials
Literature searches (e.g. sourcing information from books, journals)
Data collection (e.g. raw data, statistics, experiments)
Interviews
Internet

Analyse

the information. As you read through the information, ask yourself questions
from the following four categories to focus your analysis of the material: Logic,
Emotion, Omission and Research.

Logic (for example):

Is the theory or information consistent?
Are all the claims justified or are assumptions being made?
Are the points relevant to the overall argument?

Emotion (for example):

Is the argument overly emotional?
Does the author have a vested interest in persuading the reader?
Is there bias in the argument?

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 Omission (for example):
Is the information lacking in detail or precision?
Are there alternative interpretations or viewpoints that are not
being considered?

Research (for example):

What type of research was undertaken?
Where was the research carried out? (In which countries? In what
environment and under what conditions?)
When did the research occur? (Is it still valid?)

Advance

the argument. After examining the information or evidence, you can begin to
develop your own argument based on your analysis of the material. You will
need to look at not just how the different sources of information relate to each
other, but also how the information as a whole relates to the larger issues of the
topic you are researching. You could consider for example:
Why is the issue important?
What is the bigger picture?
What are the implications and applications of the arguments presented?

Then use your critical analysis of your sources to create your argument. If
you are writing an essay or report based on a set 'question', it is important
that you focus on answering the question correctly. Often the essay or report
'question' will hold clues as to the type of analysis required. (See our
resource on Understanding Assignment and Exam Questions.)

Critical thinking checklist

Tamblin and Ward's framework is a useful springboard for critically evaluating

information and is a good place to start.

Here is a further checklist of questions you might ask yourself when evaluating a
source (adapted from Cottrell 2003):

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Supporting evidence

- Is the evidence given relevant and sufficient to support the argument

and conclusion? Is it from a reliable, unbiased, up-to-date source?

- Is there any missing evidence that, if present, could undermine the

argument or conclusion?

False premises

Are there any underlying assumptions not supported with evidence? An author
may have built a seemingly persuasive argument on an initial unsupported
assumption. Check to see if the author has backed up all assumptions with solid,
reliable evidence or reasoning.

Causal connections

Has the writer assumed a causal connection where there isnt one? For
example: I took up yoga for four weeks and put on 5kg, so if I stop yoga Ill
lose weight. This assumes a causal connection between taking up yoga and
weight gain (i.e. yoga caused the weight gain) without taking into account any
other possible reasons for having put on weight (e.g. a change in diet or giving
up running over the same period).

Drawing on too few examples

Has the writer given sufficient examples or used a large enough sample for a
meaningful conclusion? For example: Two of the three first year students
interviewed said they preferred coffee to tea, so we can conclude that more first
year students drink coffee than tea. A generalised conclusion has been reached
through too small a sample. If the interviewer had asked the question outside a
coffee shop, for example, the sample could have been badly skewed.

Inappropriate comparisons

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Are any comparisons made, appropriate in the context? For example: On
average, Law students in Romania pass with higher grades than Law students in
Iceland, so Iceland should consider adopting the Romanian Law syllabus. Each
country will have its own course content and grading scales. Without controlling
for these differences, the comparison is inappropriate.

Check the conclusion

Is the conclusion based on sound reasoning as well as solid evidence? Or is there

false reasoning? For example: the house is made from brick (verifiable fact).
The house is one hundred years old (verifiable fact). All one hundred-year-old
houses are made from brick (false conclusion). This simple example of false
reasoning is easy to spot, but when dealing with complex concepts, false
reasoning can be trickier to recognise.

Avoid becoming emotionally involved

- Try to not get emotional, even if you agree or disagree strongly with a
text.

- Read what the author is actually saying (not what you think they are
saying) and compare it with other points of view. You can learn a great
deal from analysing and arguing points of view that are not necessarily
your own.
Evaluate the text carefully

- Check who the author is can you find any information on who they
are and what their area of expertise is?

- Check the date it was written older texts may have been written by
and for people with a very different mind set and understanding of the
world than we have today. Why has a text been written at this particular
time?

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 - Check who published the text articles submitted to academic
journals are usually circulated around experts in the field and commented
on (peer reviewed) before being accepted for publication. In this way they
are vetted by experts as a valid or sound piece of research. Internet
articles, on the other hand, may not have been checked thoroughly by
experts and may not be reliable.

- Check the accuracy and reliability of the information presented (and

any references used), including the accuracy of numbers and statistics,
and whether reported findings are statistically significant or not.

- If data analysis is involved, check the sample size and

representativeness of the sample.

- Check for any underlying bias (unconscious or deliberate).

- Check for emotive language.

For guidance on how to demonstrate critical thinking to your writing, see our
resource on Writing Analytically.

Produced by Robert Gordon University: Study Skills & Access Unit 6