Analyzing Literature

 

Write Your Discussion Post

Analyzing Literature

Paul and Elder (2012) associate three phases with their definition of critical thinking (p. xix):

1. It analyzes thinking . . . By focusing on the parts of thinking in any situation—its purpose, question, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, implications, and point of view.
2. It evaluates thinking . . . By figuring out its strengths and weaknesses: the extent to which it is clear, accurate, precise, relevant, deep, broad, logical, significant, and fair.
3. It improves thinking . . . By building on its strengths while reducing its weaknesses.

Your Literature Review assignment due this week will apply all of these phases of critical thinking to the scholarly sources you have selected. For this discussion activity, you will select one journal article you have selected for the Literature Review assignment and apply the first phase to analyze the thinking represented in the article:

1. First, describe the topics for which you researched relevant scholarly articles.
2. Next, identify one of these articles and explain how it is relevant to your topic.
3. Then use the Elements of Thought Discussion Template [DOC] to analyze the article:

   What is the main purpose of the article?
   What is the key question the author of the article is addressing?
   What is the most important information in the article?
   What key conclusions (inferences) did the author of the article come to and present?
   What were the most important ideas (concepts) that one would need to understand to understand the author’s line of reasoning?
   What were the main assumptions (that is, what the author is taking for granted that might be questioned)?
   What was the main point of view (that is, the author’s perspective) presented in the article?

 

Reference

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2012). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (3rd ed.). Pearson.

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0 Week 4 Discussion Template

Elements of Thought Discussion Template

Use this template to guide your preparation and post for the Week 4 discussion. Be sure to communicate in a scholarly manner when responding to each of the following items. For example, use proper grammar, cohesive sentence structure, clear and direct language, correct punctuation, and well-developed paragraphs. Provide one response for each item. This exercise is based on the International Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing Test (Paul & Elder,

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006).

1. The main purpose of this article is:

Describe here, as accurately as possible, the author’s intent in writing the article. What was the author trying to accomplish?

2. The key question that the author is addressing is:

Identify and explain the key question in the mind of the author when he or she wrote the article.

3. The most important information in this article is:

Identify and describe the key information the author used or presupposed in the article to support his or her main arguments. Here, you are looking for facts, experience, and data the author is using to support his or her conclusions.

4. The main inferences in this article are:

Describe the most important conclusions the author makes and presents in the article.

5. The key concept (or concepts) we need to understand in this article is (are):

To identify the key concepts, ask yourself: What are the most important concepts one must know to understand the author’s line of reasoning? Then, elaborate on what the author means by these ideas.

6. The main assumption (or assumptions) underlying the author’s thinking is (are):

Ask yourself: What is the author taking for granted that might be questioned? The assumptions are generalizations that the author does not think he or she has to defend in the context of writing the article, and they are usually unstated. This is where the author’s thinking logically begins.

7. a. If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are:

What consequences are likely to follow if people take the author’s line of reasoning seriously? Here, you are to pursue the logical implications of the author’s position. You should include implications that the author states and does not state.

b. If we fail to take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are:

What consequences are likely to follow if people ignore the author’s reasoning?

8. The main point (or points) of view presented in this article is (are):

What is the author looking at, and how is he or she seeing or understanding it? For example, in this assessment the question, “What are we looking at?” addresses our thinking. The question, “How are we seeing it?” addresses our critical evaluation of our thinking. Our point of view is defined by the fact that we see thinking as a subject of critical evaluation.

Reference

Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). The international critical thinking, reading, & writing test. Foundation for Critical Thinking. Repurposed with permission.

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