Critical Thinking and Analysis

First, let’s consider what it means to engage in critical thinking. While the application of critical thinking may vary across disciplines, the steps are universal. Adapted from the writings of Bassham, Irwin, Nardone, and Wallace (2011), Lau (2011), and Lau and Chan (2015), critical thinking involves thinking clearly and systematically, and includes:

  • formulating ideas succinctly and precisely
  • identifying the relevance and importance of ideas
  • understanding the logical connections between ideas
  • identifying, constructing, and evaluating arguments, claims, and evidence
  • recognizing explicit and implicit assumptions, arguments, and biases
  • detecting inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
  • formulating clear defensible ideas and conclusions
  • evaluating the pros and cons of decisions
  • reflecting on one’s own beliefs and values
  • applying ethical decision making

References

Bassham, G., Irwin, W., Nardone, H., & Wallace, J. (2011). Critical thinking: A student's introduction. (4th ed.) New York, NY: The McGraw Hill Companies.

Lau, J. (2011). An introduction to critical thinking and creativity: Think more, think better. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lau, J., & Chan, J. (2015). What is critical thinking? Retrieved from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.ph