Critical Reading & Note Making

It is very important to engage with good quality academic information sources when reading and establishing the credibility of  information is a key academic skill.

Critical reading is knowing why you are reading something being able to read selectively and make notes on the relevant information. Reading critically enables you to make connections between sources explore different viewpoints and evaluate arguments and evidence.

Critical reading is:

• knowing the purpose of your reading
• focusing on reading what you need
• choosing appropriate reading strategies
• thinking critically about what you read

Reading critically is much more efficient than 'normal' reading it will help you save you time and by avoiding irrelevant information and focusing on what's important you will also learn more effectively. Critical reading is the first step in critical analysis for which you may get better marks!

One of the most important aspects of critical reading is deciding whether a source is suitable and relevant to your needs - you do not want to waste your time reading irrelevant sources.

You should ask yourself three critical questions when finding an information source - is it relevant, is it recent and is it academic?

Relevancy

What makes a text relevant is the purpose in reading it. Is this source appropriate and relevant to my assignment/seminar?

Recent

Make sure you information is up to date. Sometimes you will be asked to use seminal texts that may be considered old but they are landmark texts that are of importance or significant to the discipline regardless of their age. Generally for a lot of topics you might want to consider information within the last 5-10 years. Always consider if there might be newer information available that might make your information obsolete?

Academic

Your reading needs to be drawn from academic sources not Google or Wikipedia.  Academic sources have been written by experts in the field who are reliable and objective.  Most publications go through a review process. These sources are usually textbooks peer-reviewed journal articles reputable data sources or reports.

Non academic sources may be too subjective or biased and may not have the knowledge or rigour that you require.  Non academic sources are magazine articles, blogs, editable sites like Wikipedia or non trustworthy online sites.

Effective note-making is the partner to critical reading - it lets you keep track of the information you find and can even help focus your reading. Making effective notes is a process of interacting with your notes - reviewing connecting examining and synthesising.

When making notes you should consider;

• what,
• why
• when
• who,
• how,
• why?
• so what,
• what if?
• can/is/does? etc.

We should take in account four particular aspects:

Describe

Question the source and your understanding of it, and its wider context:

• What is the source about?
• What is the context/situation?
• What's the purpose - investigate a gap in research, replicate previous studies, inform policy etc.?
• Who wrote the source, and where was it published? Is it reliable?
• Who/what is the research investigating?
• What methodology was used?
• What are the key findings/results? How are they explained?
• Who might be affected by this?
• When was the source written? Is it still relevant?

Analyse

Explore the relationships, reasoning and potential alternatives:

• How does this fit into the wider context?
• Do research questions and hypotheses make sense based on previous research?
• Why was this methodology/approach/framework chosen?
• Is the method appropriate to address the research question?
• Are the findings particularly strong or weak?
• Is the conclusion justified? Could there be other explanations for the findings?

Evaluate

Consider the implications solutions conclusions and recommendations of your sources:

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research/proposal etc.?
• How far do the results address the research question/purpose?
• How could results have been affected by limitations in the study?
• Can results be generalised to other situations?
• What can be learnt from this?
• What further research/exploration is needed?
• What recommendations can be made based on this?

Synthesise

Is where we put all the information back together again by making connections and forming your argument:

• How does this fit into the wider context and with what you already know?
• Are there any different findings, explanations or views in other sources? Be complete and consider the evidence as a whole.
• Can you see any patterns in the findings and conclusions of similar research papers?
• Could explanations/recommendations/solutions be applied to other research findings or situations?
• How does all the information you've found fit together? What does it all mean in terms of your assignment?
• Can this be used as evidence in your arguments? If so, where and how?

Guide your critical note making by identifying the main arguments and where they are derived from and its connections to what you already know.

Question their argument and look for weaknesses in the argument - is the data reliable or is there information missing?

Lastly make sure to summarise the key arguments in your own words - have you understood the concepts?

Key points to consider in critical reading:

• What does the author claim? Most likely found in the abstract
• What are the key arguments and how does the author document their claims? First look at the document's sections (if available), then look through the Introduction and Methodology Sections
• Are any counter arguments presented? These should be throughout the text and may have separate headings
• Is there any bias in the source? Look for sponsors, funders, disclosure statements and a range of references
• What research method is used? Again, the Methodology section however Science reports may signify this differently
• How does the author qualify the arguments in the text? Analysis and conclusion sections, also look for phrases such as; however, consequently, in comparison, etc.
• When highlighting or taking notes from a text, try to focus on the author’s arguments: how they explain their motives, concepts, analyses, and conclusions.
• When considering to use a portion of the text within your research, consider the context of your work in relation to theirs. Is it a relevant argument? Does it support or harness your work? Remember the idea is to assist your work!
• When you quote directly from a source use the quotation critically. In other words don’t select random quotes without context relevancy or analyses. Otherwise the quotation looks un-researched! Also remember to note down your source location to save time and effort!