Critical reading & evaluation of research arguments

1. Critical reading & evaluation of research arguments Communication Research Week 6

2. What are arguments? • The use of reasoning to establish the validity of an argument in terms of its bias, logic and supporting evidence, is an important part of the communication process, especially in academic writing and speaking. • These processes are central to persuasion and are an obvious component in advertising and the mass media generally. Communication Research

3. What are arguments? • It is important to be aware of the processes of fallacy and faulty reasoning when evaluating articles and secondary research. • The ability to differentiate fact from opinion, to evaluate the validity of a claim or the worthiness of an opinion and to be able to evaluate stated causal links between stated points, is an important critical skill. Communication Research

4. A critical reader … • attempts to understand and analyse the reasoning in the text • evaluates the evidence offered • recognises assumptions • takes a challenging and questioning attitude towards the text Communication Research

5. A critical reader doesn’t … • accept the authority of the text without question • take a passive and purely receptive role towards the text • ‘write off’ the text immediately if the writer’s meaning is not immediately clear • quickly dismiss the text because the views do not match his/her own Communication Research

6. To what extent do these everyday reading tasks require a critical reading approach? • reading the instructions to set the thermostat on your heating boiler • reading a local newspaper report about an attack on an Asian shopkeeper • reading a primary school prospectus for your child • reading a course outline • reading descriptions of two sofas in different furniture catalogues • finding out the train times on a website Communication Research

7. Critical Reading So all texts, to a certain extent require critical reading. It is not about criticising everything you read but it’s about asking questions about the text: its purpose, the claims made and the evidence presented. Communication Research

8. Some general questions to think about • Can I believe everything I read? • Are experts always right? • What makes me take more notice of one academic writer and less of another? • What makes a scholarly, rigorous piece of research, and what makes research findings weak or strong? Communication Research

9. Some questions to think about when surveying a text • Who is the writer writing for? • Who is the publisher? • Is it in the interests of the author/publisher to make a particular claim? • Which sources has the writer cited? • What sort of adjectives are used? • How does the writer rely on authority? • What does the writer present as fact? • How does the writer select evidence? Communication Research

10. Some questions you can use to interrogate the text… • does this follow? how do you know? • where is your evidence? • who exactly said this and when? • is this a fact or an opinion? • why? why not? what exactly? • are you assuming x is true here? • where can I check this out? • what’s been missed out? Communication Research

11. Applying critical reading strategies Before you read the short extract entitled ‘The Nuclear Solution’ by Tony Ryan, briefly discuss your own views on the topic with the person next to you. Now read the extract and interrogate the text Communication Research

12. The Nuclear Solution by Tony Ryan Nuclear energy is the bridging solution between a fossil powered past and a solar future. The French generate 80 per cent of their electricity from nuclear power, but are now running it down due to public pressure. However, world famous ecologist, James Lovelock, says that nuclear power is the most environmentally friendly option. It has zero emissions and a minimal waste problem. For example, a teraWatt hour of electricity yields 20 tonnes of nuclear waste as opposed to 10 million tonnes of CO2 from fossil fuels. The one real fear with nuclear energy is the potential for terrorist intervention. To mitigate that we need better security and a means to localise any release. http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2005/February/Thenuclearsolution.asp Communication Research

13. Interacting with the text You don’t have to fully agree or disagree with what the writer is saying but you can raise questions about the claims that s/he makes based on the evidence there is to support you. Examine the following statements that Professor Ryan makes: Communication Research

14. How did you react to these? ‘Nuclear energy is the the bridging solution…’ ‘It has zero emissions and a minimal waste problem.’ ‘The one real fear with nuclear energy is the potential for terrorist intervention.’ Communication Research

15. Reading Critically In what ways has this short reading exercise been similar or different to the way you have read academic texts in the past? Communication Research

16. Forms of argument – inductive reasoning • Is basic to scientific method • Argues from the particular to the general • Assembles facts one after the other until a conclusion is reached • Facts: • Obese people have diets that are high in fat • Obese people have an excessively high kilojoule intake • Obese people do not exercise regularly • Conclusion: • Obesity is a result of overindulging in fatty foods and lack of exercise Communication Research

17. Forms of argument – deductive reasoning • Deductive reasoning starts with an accepted principle and then applies that accepted law to a specific situation • Accepted: • Obesity is a consequence of excessive kilojoule intake, lack of exercise and consumption of foods high in fat. • Deduced • If we overeat and under-exercise we will become obese Communication Research

18. Aspects of arguments – 1 • Fact – a statement that rests of evidence • eg “oranges have pips” – they can be seen and felt • Opinion – a statement that rests on belief rather than evidence • eg “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” – based on belief rather than any particular empirical study Communication Research

19. Aspects of argument – 2 • Generalisation – a form of inductive reasoning and is when we draw conclusions about a whole class of people based on particular evidence. • Some cases generalizations are more valid than others depending on the amount of evidence or qualification • the statement ‘black dogs are friendly’ is obviously invalid due to insufficient evidence Communication Research

20. Aspects of argument – 3 • Analogy – a form of argument where you use some of the similarities between two things or processes to draw a conclusion about further similarities • eg ‘Just as a car needs fuel to run, so a person needs food. The engine’s pistons are the muscles, the fuel pump is the heart, the air filter is the lungs.’ • With this analogy, there are important similarities but what about the obvious differences which may weaken the argument • eg what about the importance or relevance of the brain in this analogy? Communication Research

21. Common fallacies in argument – 1 • Argument against the person – attacking an argument by trying to destroy the arguers’ reputation • eg ‘you are bound to support the argument for unemployment benefits – you’ve never worked a day in your life!’ • Misuse of an authority – a person’s name used as an authority should only be used when they are an authority on a subject • eg using a famous sportsperson to endorse a financial scheme • Citing an authority – but it was in the newspaper/on the TV/in the media, therefore it must be true! • “Alan Jones said that …” Communication Research

22. Common fallacies in argument – 2 • Appeal to commonsense – • “Everyone knows …”; • “All concerned citizens would agree …” • “All patriotic Australians would support …” • “Every good mother knows …’ • The implication is that if members of these generic groups agree with the proposition or statement, by implication if you don’t, you can’t be a ‘good mother’ or a ‘patriotic Australian’. Communication Research

23. Common fallacies in argument – 3 • Criticism forestaller – use of words or terms which make criticism of an argument difficult • eg signing a letter in favour of participation in a war, ‘ANZAC veteran’ • labeling an emotive argument or statement as being from a ‘Mother of Five’ Communication Research

24. Common fallacies in argument – 4 • Emotive language – the use of words of expressions with which certain strong feelings or emotions are associated, make rational debate impossible • ‘do-gooders’, ‘greenies’, ‘dole bludgers’ • Absolute terms – usually illogical are there are very few absolutes • always, never, infinite • “Here comes Jones. He never has anything sensible to say”. Communication Research

25. Common fallacies in argument – 5 • Faulty generalisations – either based on too little evidence or based on evidence not typical of the whole • “Small people are aggressive to make up for their lack of height” • The “after this, therefore because of this fallacy” – assuming that because one thing happens before another, it is the cause of it • turn on the lights and the TV goes off – are the two events necessarily related? Communication Research

26. Common fallacies in argument – 6 • False analogy – an argument resting on a comparison of two situations that are essentially different • Presenting a choice of two – “If you don’t support the Aust Government’s policy on War in Iraq, you must support Saddam Hussein” Communication Research

27. Common fallacies in argument – 7 • Using incomplete or misquoted statistics • “Something is very wrong with the new management of the firm – there have been 100% more resignations since they took over.” (Perhaps there was only one resignation before they took over) • Ensure you know … • how the statistics were gathered (ie sample size etc), • when they were gathered (ie time) • in what context/ for what purpose they were gathered Communication Research

28. Further Reading Critical Thinking: An Introduction: Alec Fisher CUP 2001 – an easy- to-read overview Critical Reading Checklist:http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/critical/2b.html from the Unilearning site (an Australian website) academic skills) – a useful list of questions Critical reading: questions to ask of yourself and the text: Romy Clark 1993 www.lancs.ac.uk/depts/celt/sldc/materials/reading/critical.htm - questions to think about before, after and during reading (focus on linguistic analysis of texts) Reading Academically: University of Southampton 2003 Section 5 Being a Critical Reader Communication Research