Study Skills – How to think critically

Coffee is better than tea.

That’s an opinion.

It’s not an argument in academic terms,

although you might want

to argue with the opinion.

Now this is an academic argument:

Statement one: Caffeine stimulates

the brain and nervous system.

Statement two:

Coffee contains more caffeine than tea.

And statement three is the conclusion:

Therefore coffee is

more stimulating than tea.

An argument is a collection

of statements which,

when you consider them together,

allows you to make

another statement or a conclusion.

Making and evaluating arguments is one of

the key functions of critical thinking.

We’ll come back to this.

You’ve probably heard

this term ‘critical thinking’ before.

But what exactly does it mean?

It’s what you do

when you evaluate information

and make decisions.

And it’s crucial if

you want to become

an independent thinker:

if you want to think for yourself.

And if you want to get good grades.

You can defend your opinions

and evaluate theories,

finding their weaknesses and strengths.

So, it sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it?

But how do you do it?

Back to our argument.

If you’re a critical thinker and

someone tells you coffee

is more stimulating than

tea, what do you do?

First, examine their argument.

Is there a logical connection

between the statements?

I think so.

Then you’d examine their sources.

Ask questions like these:

whose work is it?

When was it written?

How was the research funded?

What methods were used to find the evidence?

Is it objective –

what’s fact and what’s opinion?

What has been left out?

What other perspectives or

points of view could there be?

Ask questions to analyse these sources,

compare them with other sources,

and synthesise your findings.

And it’s important to try

to put your own biases to one side.

We all have them:

“I have to say I prefer coffee,

so I’ll look for evidence

that supports my view.”

And look out for any assumptions.

“Well, coffee’s good for you, isn’t it?”

And critical thinking can be applied

to more than just reading,

you can write critically too.

Phrases like these are

a great way to introduce sources

and evidence:

‘It can be argued that…’

‘There is evidence to suggest that…’

‘This supports the conclusion that…’

So, go out,

find out more about

this huge topic

and try it out for yourself.

Critical thinking is like a muscle:

it gets stronger the more you work at it.

Of course, you’ll need

a fully alert and stimulated mind

in order to get down to work.

Which leaves one question:

which is better,

coffee or tea?