What is critical read in g Essays - Learning, Philosophy, Argument

What is critical read in g Study guide Critical reading is an important precursor to critical writing. This Study Guide explains why critical reading is important, and gives some ideas about how you might become a more critical reader. Other Study Guides you may find useful are What is critical writing? Using paragraphs and The art of editing. What is critical read in g? The most characteristic features of critical reading are that you will: exam in e the evidence or arguments presented; check out any in fluences on the evidence or arguments; check out the limitations of study design or focus; exam in e the in terpretations made; and decide to what extent you are prepared to accept the authors' arguments, op in ions, or conclusions. Why do we need to take a critical approach to read in g? Regardless of how objective, technical, or scientific the subject matter, the author(s) will have made many decisions during the research and writing process, and each of these decisions is a potential topic for examination and debate, rather than for blind acceptance. You need to be prepared to step into the academic debate and to make your own evaluation of how much you are willing to accept what you read. A practical starting point therefore, is to consider anything you read not as fact, but as the argument of the writer. Taking this starting point you will be ready to engage in critical reading. Critical read in g do es not have to be all negative The aim of critical reading is not to find fault, but to assess the strength of the evidence and the argument. It is just as useful to conclude that a study, or an article, presents very strong evidence and a well-reasoned argument, as it is to identify the studies or articles that are weak. Evidence Depending on the kind of writing it is, and the discipline in which it sits, different kinds of evidence will be presented for you to examine. At the technical and scientific end of the spectrum, relevant evidence may include information on: measurements, timing, equipment, control of extraneous factors, and careful following of standard procedures. Specific guidance will be available within specialties on what to look for. At the other end of the spectrum is writing where there is clearer scope for personal interpretation, for example: analysis of in dividuals' experiences of healthcare; the translation of a text from a foreign language; or the identification and analysis of a range of themes in a novel. In these cases the evidence may include items such as quotes from interviews, extracts of text, and diagrams showing how themes might connect. The nature of the evidence presented at these two extremes is different, but in both cases you need to look for the rationale for the selection and interpretation of the evidence presented, and the rationale for the construction of the argument. Broaden in g the def in ition of evidence This Study Guide takes a broad view of evidence: it maintains that all that you read can be considered as evidence, not purely the actual data collected/presented. This encompasses: the report of the context with in which the data we re collected or created; the choice of the method for data collection or selection; the audit trail for the analysis of the data i.e.: the decisions made and the steps in the analysis process; the rationale for the in terpretations made and the conclusions drawn; the relevance of, and the use made of the theoretical perspective, ideology, or philosophy that is underp in n in g the argument. L in k in g evidence to argument On its own, evidence cannot contribute to academic debate. The interpretation and presentation of that evidence within an argument allows the evidence to make a contribution. The term argument' in this context means the carefully constructed rationale for the enquiry, and for the place of its results within the academic arena. It will explain for example: why the authors considered that what they did was worth doin g; why it was worth doin g in that particular way; why the data collected, or the material selected, we re the most appropriate; how the conclusions drawn l in k to the wider context