Being critical

Being critical
In everyday life: it means being negative BUT

In writing: means seeing both sides of the argument (proving evidence for
and against the idea)

You need to identify different positions in the debate and provide evidence
for each side. You need to question what you read and look deeper into it
(not taking things at face value or making assumptions)
Critical means…
…providing clearly justified
reasoned judgements about what you
have read and are now writing about.

Need good knowledge of the

literature that both supports and
opposes your ideas, i.e.
demonstrating your familiarity with
the topic,
Show through your writing that you
have this knowledge,
 A critique of literature

 Developing a ‘critical’ approach

 To what extent does it answer your research question?

 Look for weaknesses in the work you are reading e.g. in the
design, how findings are reported, limitations, areas for further
research

 How does this study compare with others?

 What is the current state of knowledge?

 Start questioning what you read!

If you think the authors ideas are unclear, poorly

justified, inconsistent, biased or need to be
tested further it often means that they are!.....

….but not enough just to state so, you need to

include clear reasoning as to why you think this
= by justifying the points you make you are
showing your critical judgement.

 In doing this you will be providing an analysis

of the key literature, including research that
both supports and opposes your ideas.
Question everything that you read!
Why does he/she say that? Does it seem likely?
What is the evidence for this statement?
Are there other alternate theories that
would match the evidence? Does this
seem likely from what you know about
business/your experience? Does it fit in
with what other people
have said about the topic?
Critical Analysis & Evaluation

 Description is easy; analysis is hard

 Therefore, don’t just describe the research, analyse and evaluate it;
 e.g. In referring to various authors’ research or theories – how do they
define the concept you are studying?
 How do they differ or agree with one another and why?
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Critical Writing …….…
◦ Read around a topic
◦ Draw on several sources (academic journals,
textbooks, online)
◦ Present a synthesis of current knowledge (not
a list)
◦ Identify key themes, historical development of
topic
◦ Engage with the debates, arguments
◦ Present your own opinions supported by
evidence (previous research, personal
experience), your observations from your or
other businesses
 Summary on referencing

 e.g. According to Jones (2017) business leaders tend to value colleagues

who tell them ……….
 When quoting e.g. “All leaders are idiots” (Hughes, 2016: 3)

 Full reference (name, date, publisher & place) always at back of essay
under References
 Internet sources. Again Evans (2015) in main essay with full url and date of
access under References
How to make your essay flow

 ‘This research shows/reveals/confirms’

 ‘Some will argue that …’
 ‘One interpretation could be …’
 ‘However, this could be taken as …’
 ‘This is not to say that …’
 ‘Possible interpretations include …’
Active verbs for discussing ideas

Informs, reviews, argues, states, synthesises, claims, answers, explains, reconsiders,

provides, maintains, outlines, supports, compares, lists, acknowledges, confirms,
analyses, disputes, concludes, reveals, implies, reminds, suggests, considers,
highlights, refutes, assembles, shows, adds, clarifies, identifies (Ballenger, 2009)
 Obvious things…

Add page numbers

Do not use anything less than a

12 point font size

All diagrams and models should be large

enough to be readable