Vetting Sources and Source Comparison for Research

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

        As citizens, it is essential to be “Critical thinkers who seek to draw intelligent conclusions” (pg. 3) whether as jurists, voters, parents, students, teachers, workers, managers, attorney. It is important to be able to discern between opinion, propaganda, facts, truth, error, and purposeful deceit. We elect people to speak for us at many levels. We need to be able to comprehend what we are hearing and be willing to utilize all the skills of critical

To survive in such a multifaceted and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. (Critical thinking community, n.d.)

During college, students should be able to research and analyze their sources. It is an important life skill. By using the ability to research, they can find articles with credible, reliable, and relevant information to get the best and dependable research. People who use these techniques will find each of these components essential to the authenticity of an article. These skills would be able to help students and researchers discover trustworthy and reliable sources. Each of the different components in a quality research makes it solid and dependable. Credibility is how believable or truthful the research, and whether the researchers have the credentials to do research in that area. Reliability is the reputation of the article’s source, and if the authors considered any biases. Relevancy is how current the article is or how important it is now. Students conducting research in college need to be able to critically analyze sources for credibility, relevancy, and reliability in order to determine their usefulness in a research paper.

If I am to develop my personal critical thinking ability, I must first make a conscious choice to understand the basic concept of a premise and then make critical reflection of this basic concept by expanding my thinking approach. To achieve this, I must ask radical questions that will enhance the scope of analysis and judgment. I must move from the region of subconscious thinking to one of conscious thinking because in so doing, I become aware that I am actually thinking. This awareness will allow me to think beyond rudimentary concepts through critical reasoning and critical reflection to decipher underlying issues that are concealed in the concept under investigation. By understanding the predictable

Title of Primary Source: ACCOUNT OF THE SLAVE TRADE ON THE COAST OF AFRICA by ALEXANDER FALCONBRIDGE

In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.

self-correcting. Similarly, I believe that critical thinking is judgement, specific to the current situation, that has substance based upon the principles used to critique it. Put another way, critical thinking depends on standards to guide its solution or response; these standards include “clarity, relevance, accuracy, fairness, completeness, precision, depth, breadth, and adequacy.” (Jones, Elizabeth A.|Ratcliff, 1993). I also believe that critical thinking is self-correcting, because it is based in logic and reasoning; vague solutions will always exist, but a sharp critical thinker will always find the correct answer through the precise application of reasoning.

The main concepts presented in the article are the varying definitions of each author on the concept of critical thinking. The information the author uses are definitions which are the opinions of varied authors and are similar in foundation in that to apply critical thinking one must be able to identify a problem, pose a question(s), provide valid supporting evidence, and come to a conclusion. Although the author’s definitions do not identify a problem, questions, evidence, or conclusions, the relationship Petress (2004) shows is that the reader must apply this process themselves as it is not always given. The information used does appear to be relevant, significant, and valid. The references the author listed does provide enough information for me to come to this conclusion. Since this work is a literature review and not a case study, numerical data are not necessary to determine validity of the information.

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Critical thinking, in the context of employability, it is a broad term that encompasses the use of “problem solving, analysis, creative thinking, interpretation, and reasoning.” (Dash, “Why Critical Thinking Skills Are Essential in Business”) In other words, while there are varying definitions for critical thinking, it is generally considered a skill set with specific parameters. One of the necessary conditions within of this definition is that the idea to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is ascribed is a skill set. This is also considered a “key area” of professional development. (Joschik, “Well-Prepared in Their Own Eyes”) Furthermore, critical thinking is necessarily a mental process. This is due to the fact that each of the encompassed terms, such as problem solving and analysis, are mental processes. Finally, if the subject to which the term ‘critical thinking’ is being applied is “the ability to think clearly and rationally,” then the subject possesses the sufficient condition to be considered critical thinking. (Hofmeister, “Critical Thinking and Getting a Job”)

The process of critical thinking requires you to ask more questions of both others and of yourself before a decision or determination is made. In order to successfully evaluate data in a critical manner, you must have a system in place to assess information as it is presented. In any situation whether you are having a conversation, observing others, or material you have read, you must be ready to probe deeper and ask the right question at the right time.

While reading these three engaging articles, we made sure to incorporate critical thinking skills. During our discussions, we made sure to ask each other questions, clarify our thoughts whenever speaking unclearly, and making sure to not stray away from the topic at hand. Occasionally, if we ever had thoughts that were not relevant to our discussion, one of us would remind us to stay focused. During our discussions, we tried to connect the article to each other and how they related.

According to Wolpert (2009), “technology plays an important role in our lives; however, skills such as critical thinking and analysis have been declining.” Wolpert further stated that “reading for pleasure, which is one of the things that should help youths in their thinking and imagination has declined.” Students are rarely read books or any form of literature that would have helped to improve their critical thinking skills. Furthermore Kurland (2000) posits that critical thinking speaks to relying on reason rather than emotion; the influence of motives and bias are measured, and all reasonable inferences are evaluated. In addition, the Foundation for Critical Thinking (2011), cited Glaser’s (1941), definition of critical thinking as