critical thinking chapter 6 part 2

• Critical reading


  Engaging in what you read by asking questions like 'what is the author trying to say?' or 'what is the main argument being presented?'
• Critical reading does not necessarily mean being critical of what you read
• Previewing text


  • Can help you plan to read efficiently by answering questions like 'how much material do I have to read?', 'can I divide the material into manageable chunks per day?', 'are there titles and subtitles I can skim?', 'what do the introduction and conclusion say?'
• Previewing text


  • Can improve critical reading by answering questions like 'am I already familiar with the material?', 'do I have biases one way or another?', 'is there a useful bibliography, and should I follow up?'
• Developing reading strategy


  1. Select a suitable piece

  2. Speed-read
• SQ3R reading strategy


  1. Survey

  2. Question

  3. Read

  4. Recall

  5. Review
• Fact


  Reliable piece of information that is provable, unbiased, and can be tested or proved through independent sources
• Opinion


  Assertions or inferences that may or may not be based on facts and can be challenged
• Types of claims


  • Absolute claims (must be accurate, have evidence)
  • Moderate claims (not involve accurate evidence)
• Vagueness


  When a word or phrase cannot be said with certainty what it includes or excludes
• Ambiguity


  When a word or sentence has more than one meaning
• Generality


  Lacking specificity, referring to all members of a group rather than fewer
• Inductive reasoning


  • Moves from small to big, goes from facts to generalizations
• Deductive reasoning


  • Moves from big to small, applies generalizations to specific situations
• Inductive reasoning using scientific method

  1. Hypothesize

  2. Gather data

  3. Analyze data

  4. Draw conclusions
• Dangers of inductive reasoning include relying on anecdotes or small case-study "evidence", the "inductive leap", and sweeping generalizations
• Deductive reasoning using syllogisms

  • Main premise (generalization)
  • Minor premise
  • Conclusion
• Dangers of deductive reasoning include premises must be true and the syllogism must be valid
• Qualifiers


  Words like "might", "possibly", "most", "usually", "generally" that help moderate syllogisms