Develop Your Critical Thinking

How do you form an opinion on a new subject in which you are not an expert? 🤯 Start by carrying out a structured information search!

The key to quality information research is suspended judgment. It's about accepting that you don't have all the knowledge about the subject. You must let go of assumptions and what you think you know.

In this chapter, you'll have the chance to learn suspended judgment by rigorously exploring the subject of your choice! 🤓Ready?

Identify the Key Steps in an Information Search

To reduce the risk of getting something wrong!

I suggest a six-step strategy. 

1. Define the task – this means defining the deliverable, the result expected at the end of the research.

2. Identify the subject – clarify the limits of the research, define precisely what it’s about.

3. Find sources – look up the sources cited in an article, or use search engines.

4. Select the sources used – this requires rigor! At the end of this phase, you must explain and justify your choice of sources.

5. Assess the sources– this is the core of your project, and it’s where you need to show critical thinking. This step will be described in more detail in chapter 3. Patience, we’ll get there soon! 😉

6. Present the results – you’ve done everything you can to base your answer on reliable sources.  

When taking these steps, remember to stand back and regularly check that you are still on course to improve your knowledge, with minimum risk of errors. For example, as you research sources, keep reminding yourself what question your work should answer (step 2). Analyzing sources that don't help you is a waste of time.

Having gone through these six steps, you should have well-structured and supported research. Of course, that doesn't mean that your answer is beyond criticism, but your mistakes can't be interpreted as biased or your fault. At the same time, your knowledge of the subject will have taken a great leap forward. Your assumptions might have taken a few knocks, but you should be ready for that by now! 😉

It's Your Turn

Choose a subject you think you know, but not that much. Do steps 1, 2, 3, and 4, noting down your results for the next chapter.

Let's Recap!

With the advent of interactive Web 2.0, information research has become an essential task for anyone wanting to ensure reliable information. This chapter helped you to:

• Understand that you should ideally discard your preconceptions (suspended judgment) before starting research. 

• Identify six key steps for an effective and reliable search, thereby reducing the risk of errors.

In doing your own research, you might have wondered if the sources you found were reliable. And you were right, that's a key question! It's the subject of the next chapter.