1.4 Reading Critically

Perhaps as a child you did a kind of picture puzzle where you connected numbered dots to make a picture. A successful writer connects the dots for the reader by stating a clear claim and showing how the evidence proves that claim. However, the reader is still an active participant in the exchange. As a reader, you need to constantly evaluate what you are reading. And as a writer, you will need to carefully evaluate evidence you choose to include in your papers.

The time we live in has often been called the Information Age, because we are constantly flooded with facts, opinions, and arguments of various kinds. How do we know whether the data we read are valid—whether they have been obtained in an objective, scientific way? If an expert is quoted, how do we know whether that expert is someone we should take seriously? If an opinion is expressed, how do we know that it is based on solid evidence and clear judgment? When we read critically, we look for limitations in the evidence and bias in the conclusions, and decide how much weight the evidence deserves.

Is It Fact or Opinion?

Fact

A fact is a piece of information that is universally—or almost universally—accepted. It is supported by credible evidence; it can be shown to be true. Experiments validating the fact have been performed many times with the same result. However, as more research is done and understanding increases, facts may change. A fact is the world's current best understanding of reality.

You can recognize that something is a fact when

• Many credible sources agree about it.

• It is based on multiple studies that can be reproduced.

• The results of the studies have been fairly interpreted.

Opinion

An opinion is individual; it is a reflection of personal insight and experience. Sometimes our opinions are well thought out, a result of careful analysis and deep reflection. These are informed opinions. But often we form opinions quickly, without careful thought. Sometimes we cherry-pick evidence. Or we may choose to interpret data in a way that supports the opinion we have already formed, rather than looking at the data more objectively.

You can recognize that something is an opinion when

• It contains phrases that signal less than 100 percent certainty, like "in all probability," "we can conclude," or "therefore it seems."

• It is clear that a judgment has been made: "the government should . . . ," "there are several reasons for . . . ," or "the best solution is . . ."

• It contains other language that shows a personal judgment has been made: "beautiful," "immoral," "highly effective."

• Most importantly, an opinion is not sufficiently supported by data that can be reproduced.

Recognizing Bias

Another critical reading skill is recognizing bias. But what is bias, and who has it? Every person on earth is a unique combination of experiences, cultural influences, and individual thought processes. Even informational writing, like that in newspaper articles or history books, reflects the bias of the author. Suppose you are a newspaper reporter who has 100 facts about a visit from a foreign leader, but only space in your article for 20 of them. Which will you choose to include? Surely your own opinions about what the leader stands for and what the leader has or hasn't accomplished will influence your choice. Even though your article is factual, in deciding which information is important for your readers to understand, you will have left out facts that could change their perceptions.

Your job as a reader, then, is not to decide whether or not a writer is biased. All writers, even those whose aim is to write fairly and objectively, are influenced by their own worldview. Your job is to discover what those biases are and think about how they may have influenced the writing.

Questions to Consider as You Read

Following are questions to consider as you read:

• Where was the writing published? If the article is published by a respected source, especially a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal, you can be more confident about both the evidence and conclusion. For online sources (and almost all sources are found online now), look very carefully at sources with a URL that ends in .com or .org. These indicate that the online publisher is interested in selling something (.com) or in gaining your support for a cause (.org). More reliable sites have URLs that end in .edu or .gov, where the writer and publisher have made a conscious effort to maintain objectivity.

  Remember, however, that ALL human beings have some bias, so even in these cases, you need to read critically. In addition, peer-reviewed journals often include opinion articles. These are carefully considered opinions by experts in a field, and they may add weight to your own arguments as you write your paper. But you will also need to back up even the opinions of these experts with solid data—carefully conducted and interpreted studies and experiments.

• Who is the author? Knowing something about the writer can help you understand the level of expertise that went into writing the text. In some cases it is also helpful to understand something about the political leanings or personal beliefs of the writer. This may help you understand who the target audience is and how the author wants to affect readers—that is, what the author's purpose is.

• What arguments are used? Are the reasons and conclusions sound, or does the author use faulty logic? For example, does the writer claim cause and effect where that relationship cannot be proven? Does the writer overgeneralize in his or her conclusions from an example or two?

• What evidence is presented? Is it credible? Relevant? Fairly interpreted? If a poll proclaims that an American president has a 43 percent approval rating, what does that mean? How many Americans were actually polled? Unless the people polled represented all areas of the country and all political persuasions, we can't confidently conclude that 43 percent is a valid statistic.

• What is the tone? Is there language that shows the emotion or judgment of the author? There are many kinds of writing where personal feelings and judgments are important, such as essays and fiction. In these types of writing, writing with emotion is an important strategy. The important thing is to understand that whatever you are reading, it has been filtered through the personality, assumptions, and experiences of the writer. Your job is to weigh the ideas and perceptions of the writer as you form your own opinion. If, however, the tone is extreme—very angry or insulting perhaps—that should signal to you that the writer has probably not looked carefully at both sides of the issue or weighed the evidence fairly.

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