What is critical reading?

It is important to read critically. Critical reading requires you to:

Evaluate items in a text
Distinguish fact from opinion
Look at arguments for and against
be aware of your own opinions (positive and negative) so you can make an objective evaluation, i.e. decide to what extent you are prepared to accept the authors’ arguments, opinions and conclusions
be aware of the writer’s background, assumptions and purposes

All writers have a reason for writing and will emphasise details which support their reason for writing and ignore details that do not.

Critical reading involves:

Examining the evidence or arguments presented

Thinking about the limitations of study design or focus

e.g. The researcher only interviewed 5 people. It is impossible to make generalisations from such a small data set. / The researcher was only looking at male students from privileged US universities; therefore, generalisations cannot be made about female students, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, or students from universities in other countries

Examining the interpretations made

The researcher asserts that the finding that people eat more ice-cream in the summer is surprising. This interpretation seems misguided, as several studies (e.g. Swales et al 1989, Johnson & Torin, 2003) have suggested a strong correlation between hot weather and desire for ice-cream.

Deciding whether you accept the authors’ arguments, opinions, or conclusions

e.g. In a survey, most students said that they like at the University of Sheffield and the researcher concludes that all students believe that University of Sheffield is the best university in the world; However, the results do not fully confirm that this interpretation is true as three participants preferred Manchester University