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Thinking Critically

Whatever you’re studying, it’s likely that you’ll be asked to use and demonstrate critical thinking. This term covers a range of things across different subjects, but, in essence, it means a willingness to ask questions.

"Why has this experiment turned out the way it has?" "How might the design of this product be improved?" "What influenced this author's opinion?" 

When you think critically:

• You don't just accept information or situations that are given to you.
• You try to understand why they are the way they are.
• You ask what other possibilities exist, and what you might be able to do about them.

Thinking critically is the pumping heart of academic work, keeping the whole business alive. If we aren't prepared to think critically about the world around us, who will?

Critical thinking is also an everyday skill that we need to navigate life, from advertising to politics and fake news.

Like many core skills, thinking critically in an academic environment will build on our existing capabilities but it should also stretch them.

Just like physical exercise, there's an element of necessary discomfort in this. However, the outcome will ultimately be positive, and you should leave university with a wider range of tools for thinking – and acting – critically.

Sign up to the Critical thinking and writing workshop for further guidance on the principles of critical thinking and how to apply it to your written work. 

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Critical analysis in practice

When analysing the available evidence, there are four key questions that can help you to make judgements about information, either individual or as a collection of relevant works.  For each question it is essential to also ask what are the implications of this:

• What is being said, and what are the implications? Is the argument strong and backed-up by reliable sources? Get an overview of each piece of evidence and then think about your reaction to it - do you agree or do you feel an alternative explanation is stronger? Is there enough detail, or do you need to search for more related sources?
• Why does it exist, and what are the implications?  Are the authors supporting or rejecting a particular perspective, could they have a particular motive which adds bias to the argument being made?
• Who are the authors, and what are the implications? Are they qualified to reach these conclusions, is the work cited and supported in other evidence on this topic?
• How were the conclusions reached, and what are the implications?  Are the conclusions well-evidenced, logical and relevant?  Are there particular strengths and limitations and do these change how influenced you are by the overall conclusions? Are there other perspectives or conclusions that you think are stronger?

Your reader or marker will not be fully aware of your critical thinking skills unless this is made clear in your writing, our How to write critically guidance provides a framework for building critical analysis into your academic writing.

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Socratic Questioning 

Socratic questioning is a rigorous evaluation technique that can be used to test claims and assumptions. It is named after the Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, who encouraged his students to reach their own conclusions by questioning and examining ideas, rather than accepting ideas and information at face value. 

Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking the poison hemlock for daring to challenge the authority of the Athenian state, or in the words of his disciple Plato, for "not believing in the gods of the state".

His legacy is an approach that foregrounds the importance of seeking evidence before making assumptions and being willing to question authority. 

Types of Socratic question

There are six categories of Socratic questions set out below, with prompts on how you might apply these to your own evaluation of sources and evidence. 

Seeking clarification

• How does this relate to the topic?
• What else do you need to find out about the topic?

Probing assumptions

• What is the claim based on?
• Can the claim be checked or verified elsewhere?

Probing evidence

• What is the evidence or proof?
• What examples are provided?
• Are the evidence and examples valid, reliable and sufficient?

Questioning a viewpoint

• What are the alternative views or opinions?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the claim?

Questioning implications

• What might this mean in practice?
• What are the likely consequences?

Questioning the question

• Why is the question important?
• What other questions might also be relevant?

Next steps

• How to question information
• How to write critically
• How to use GenAI critically