This document provides information on developing critical thinking skills when evaluating information sources. It discusses identifying the focus and perspective, finding supporting evidence, and engaging in debate to structure an argument. Potential pitfalls like relying on a single source or copying without attribution are noted. The document recommends evaluating sources like books, journals, and websites by considering author credentials, publication details, biases, and references. It provides tips for critically analyzing research papers and emphasizes the importance of citing sources to avoid plagiarism.

1. Information skills
Critical Thinking and Evaluation: how to critically
evaluate information sources
Linda Kerr

2. Information skills

3. Critical thinking
If you want to make claims for someone else to
support:
Claims (premise) Claims (conclusion)
What do you need to support your claim..?

4. Critical thinking
• Identify the focus of the assignment
• Identify your own point of view
• Consider how you’ll persuade other people of
your point of view
• Find the proof
• Engage in debate
• Structure your argument
• Cotterall, S (2006). Critical Thinking Skills. Palgrave McMillan .

5. Information/Evidence
• Where do you get information?
• Eg How did you decide to come to Heriot-Watt
University

6. Potential Pitfalls
• Essays, assignments, dissertations, theses:
– University students can fail assignments or get poor marks
in their coursework because they have used the Internet in
ways that are inappropriate for work at this level
– Repeating information from a single source (eg a text
book, encyclopedia or Website) is not sufficient.
– Copy information from the Internet and don't
acknowledge sources
– Gain better marks, produce better academic work

7. Finding information : sources
• Books, journals and theses (Library catalogue)
• Articles, reports etc (Library databases)
• All above and more – Internet (need to sift
and evaluate)
• Combination of above

8. Appropriate resources
• If you are writing an essay on something like popular
culture or political bias it might be appropriate to:
• reference informal or primary sources that represent different
points of view
• discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these.
• Scientific information – find accurate, peer-
reviewed information

9. How to critically evaluate information
sources
• Journals (online and print)
• Books and ebooks
• Websites

10. Book
• Publisher
– eg a University Press, professional society press?
• Author or editors credentials
• Read content pages – any bias?
• Reference books - check a piece of
information you know is correct

11. Journal Articles
• Look at author credentials
– Place of work, professional affiliations
– Is there an abstract?
– Are there references at the end of the article
– Do other people cite this paper? Or only self-citation?
– timeliness of the entry
– keywords to see what other categories the work falls into.
• Evaluate this information to see if it is relevant
and valid for your research.

12. Journals
• For example, if you are doing formal scientific
research you will probably want to rely on
peer-reviewed articles (validated and checked
by academics).
• Avoid advertorials
• Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

13. Research Paper Structure
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• References

14. Abstract
• Advertisement for the paper
• Summary of paper
– Reason for performing the study
– Hypothesis
– Important results
– Implications of the findings

15. Introduction
• Background to the study
• Brief overview of the current state of the field
– Citing of other people’s work
“The function of tendons can be classified into two
categories: tensile force transmission, and storage of
elastic strain energy during locomotion (Ker et al., 1988,
2000; Shadwick, 1990; Pollock and Shadwick, 1994).”
(Maganaris and Paul, 2002)

16. Introduction
• Background to the study
• Brief overview of the current state of the field
– Citing other people’s work
• How the authors arrived at their research question
• Why this is the most important question in the
world!
• HYPOTHESIS
– Simple
– Easily answered

17. Results
• What they found
• Visual representation of the data
– Graphs
– Tables
• Good figure legends
• Description of their results - no
discussion of the implications

18. References
• Expansion of the citations in the text
• Record of the authors, title and journal where the
papers were published
• Critically important to avoid plagiarism – must
include the sources of all information that is other
people’s intellectual property
• Two citation methods
– Harvard System
– Numeric System
• Individual journals will request specific methods

19. Reading a research paper
• Skimming
– Check if article is for you
– Topic sentence at start of paragraph
– May miss arguments
• Scanning
– Concentrate on parts of interest
– Identify key facts
– Useful if clear goal in mind

20. Evaluating websites
Ask questions:
• Who is the publisher?
• Who sponsored or funded the site?
• Do you recognise them as an authoritative source?
• What are their credentials, qualifications, background, experience?
• Has the information been edited or peer reviewed?
• Are the sources trustworthy?
• What are their motives for publishing the information?
• What standpoint do they take: impartial? biased?
• Do other Internet sources that you trust link to this site?

21. Evaluating websites
• Photographs of the author or offices of the
organisation.
• A copyright statement to help establish the
owner.
• Consider how you came by the site- was it a
link from a trusted source?
• The URL (.gov; .ac.uk; .edu)
• Anyone can set up a dot.org (.org)

22. Wikipedia
• Wikipedia can be a useful place to start
looking for information - references
• Wise NOT to cite it in your project/dissertation
without good cause
• Most other popular sources of information eg
ask.com, yahoonews etc – don’t use

23. Examples – Google search
• Energy Resources : wind power
<http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/wind.htm>
• Energy Saving Trust
<http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/>

24. Critical thinking
• Describe, analyse, evaluate
• Asking questions – don’t accept at face value
• What, where, who, when, how, why, what if,
so what, what next...

25. Critical thinking checklist
Difference between “belief” and “evidence”
Identify what's important:
• What are the key ideas, problems, arguments,
observations, findings, conclusions?
• What evidence is there?
• Distinguish critical from other types of writing
(eg descriptive); fact from opinion; bias from
reason

26. Evaluate what you find:
• Explore the evidence - does it convince?
• What assumptions are being made and inferences
drawn?
• Is there engagement with relevant, up to date
research?
• How appropriate are the methods of investigation?
• Is there a consistent and logical line of reasoning?
• Do you agree with what's being said? Why?
• How is language being used (emotive, biased etc.)?

27. Look beyond what you're reading/hearing:
• What other viewpoints, interpretations and
perspectives are there? What's the evidence
for these? How do they compare?
• How does your prior knowledge and
understanding relate to these
ideas, findings, observations etc.?
• What are the implications of what you're
reading/hearing?

28. Clarifying your point of view:
• Weigh up the relevant research in the area
• Find effective reasons and evidence for your
views
• Reach conclusions on the basis of your
reasoning
• Illustrate your reasons with effective examples

29. Critical thinking exercise
• Test your critical thinking skills
http://lis.tees.ac.uk/infoskills_gen/critical/exercise.cfm

30. Citing and referencing websites
• It is easy to copy information from the
Internet
• You need to acknowledge all sources of
information
• http://www.hw.ac.uk/library/Harvardguide.pdf

31. Stella Cottrell
Critical Thinking Skills
Class No: 371.3 COT
Support materials (mp3 file):
http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/

32. Additional titles
• Thinking critically about critical thinking /
• Thinking critically about critical thinking / by Diane F. Halpern.
Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996. 153.42 HAL
• Writing science through critical thinking / by Marilyn F. Moriarty.
Jones and Bartlett, 1997. 810.61 MOR
• Critical thinking : a concise guide / by Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp [eBook].
3rd ed. London : Routledge, 2010.
• Critical thinking and analysis / by Mary Deane and Erik Borg.
Publisher:Pearson, 2011. Class. Number:371.3 DEA

33. For more information
http://www.hw.ac.uk/library
Contact subject librarian:
http://www.hw.ac.uk/library/librarians.html

34. Questions
• Linda Kerr
• Research Support Librarian
• l.kerr@hw.ac.uk