Scope
Consider what claims made by the author(s) of the work Most reliable pieces of research should set out clearly the scope, aims and objectives and the methods by which data were collected. Any worke fail to set out such information should again be regarded with caution.
Purpose
Thank about why a work was produced as the reason may give and an indication of its reliability. If a work was produced to convince buyer of the value of an information resource, it will scarcely constitute an objective and independent assessment of the value of that resource .
You will soon develop an understand of your topic and become familiar with individual researchers or a core body of authors who publish extensively in your area. Until you develop that “feel” it us useful to determine evaluation criteria from the outset to save time and effort.
Critical analysis
There are a number of ways to approach critical analysis, but one thing they all have in common is “reading with a purpose” Every item you read will inform your argument and establish the background to, and justification for your work. The technique used in the chapter demonstrates how to deconstruct an argument in order to establish the robustness of that argument. The same technique can be applied in reverse when you are constructing your own argument. Ensuring that the building blocks of your claim are supported by credible evidence and sound reason will strengthen your argument and make it difficult to refute. Two very effective approaches to critical analysis are those proposed by Toulmin (1958), who identifies the element of an argument as a claim, data, a warrant, and backing, and Fisher (1993), who identifies reasons reasons , conclusions and evidence of both approaches can be found in Hart (1998), and further reading on this subject is strongly recommended , What is presented here is a technique that combination, just one that happened to work for me and my students.
Essentially an academic argument should have a number of components. Any argument should consist of a claim (or conclusion), a reason (interpretation of data), evidence (data) to support that claim, and any qualification of the claim. In order to analyse the argument of the author you need to read the piece and identify all of those components.
A claim
A claim is the essence of an argument ; it is the conclusion the wrier intends to demonstrate by applying all other components of an argument in support of that claim, A claim could be as simple as’ You must buy this CD! ’or’ you must read this