Homework: Reading Critically & Evaluating Texts

Whenever you read any text with the intention of using it as a source material for your
work, you must develop the habit of CRITICAL READING. This basically means reading
with questions.
In some cultures you may be educated to respect the published writings of academics and
experts automatically, and not to question or disagree with them. However, in British
higher education, you are EXPECTED to read everything in a critical way.
What is Critical Reading?
Critical reading requires you to evaluate the arguments in the text, weigh the evidence and
develop a set of questions which help you to evaluate what you are reading. You need to
distinguish fact from opinion, and to understand how argument is constructed so that you
know if the writer is trying to lead you to one point of view, and therefore perhaps only
presenting half the evidence.
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS
The kinds of questions you should be asking yourself as you read are:
 What is the writer’s purpose? Are they trying to inform, persuade, argue, make you
follow a specific opinion?

 Who is the writer? Are they reliable, relevantly qualified to comment on the subject,
paid by a company, member of a particular political, academic or action group?

 Is the date of publication relevant to the work you are doing?

 Is evidence used to support points? How good is the evidence? Are all the points made
supported?

 If there are unsupported points, are they well-known facts or generally accepted
opinions?

 What is the balance between fact and opinion? Is there a clear distinction between fact
and opinion?

 In an experimental study, was the sample size adequate? Are the statistics reliable?

 How does the writer’s viewpoint relate to the main point YOU wish to make in your
work? Could you use it to support your point? To contrast with your point? To present
as a counter-argument? To provide data or case studies for your work?

 Are the writer’s conclusions reliable in the light of the evidence presented? What
assumptions has the writer made? Are they valid?

 Does the writer use emotive arguments? Are there a lot of maximisers, such as
completely, absolutely, entirely or minimisers, such as only, just, hardly, simply, merely?
 Critical Evaluation of Source Materials
Source evaluation 1
The article below is taken from the Daily Star, a tabloid newspaper.

The writer makes 3 major claims. What are they?

1. .........................................................................................................................................

2. .........................................................................................................................................

3. .........................................................................................................................................

University experts warn of fast growing cow-sized rats you can't exterminate
AN INVINCIBLE army of disease-ridden killer rats the size of cattle are set to terrorise Britain,
scientists warned yesterday.

By Matthew Young, The Daily Star, 27th June 2014

Giant super-rats that could become as big as cows are spreading across Britain at an “alarming” rate,
scientists have warned.
And the mutant beasts are immune from extermination by all available poisons.
A shock new study has confirmed a UK plague, first revealed in the Daily Star, does exist with an
estimated 70million of the new breed now in the UK.
Experts working for ITV1’s Tonight show, say that they will outnumber humans two-to-one by the
end of the year, when the population will hit 120m.
Another study warned the vermin could become as huge as cows if they continue to evolve.
Families in Kent, Liverpool and other parts of the country have already reported rats as big as cats
and foxes.
Leicester University scientist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz said: “Given enough time, rats could probably grow
to be at least as large as the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, that lives today, that can reach 80
kilos.”
Experts from Huddersfield University, West Yorks, were stunned to find the mega-rodents were
-resistant to traditional rat-killing substances.
Professor Dr Dougie Clarke warned: “I think people should be concerned about these resistant rats
because of public health concerns.
“They carry disease and various other bacteria and viruses and they also damage buildings, while
costing billions of pounds of damage worldwide.
“With the use of rodenticides, that will kill off the normal rats, and then the resistant ones will
remain.
“So it’s a sort of time bomb of resistance building up over generations of rats. The fact we’ve tested
17 counties and every single one of them has got resistant rats was an amazing find to us.”
Last night, footage of the huge pests invading Britain was shown for the first time on ITV1
Tonight’s programme, The Rise Of The Super Rats.
A government decision about the control of stronger rodent poison, which carries the risk of killing
birds of prey and other animals, is expected later this year.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/386009/University-experts-warn-of-fast-growing-
cow-sized-rats-you-can-t-exterminate

A capybara
The three main claims are set out below as quotations: Note the position

a. “Giant super-rats that could become as big as cows are spreading across Britain at an
“alarming” rate, scientists have warned” (Young, 2014).

b. “And the mutant beasts are immune from extermination by all available poisons”
(Young, 2014).

c. “A shock new study has confirmed a UK plague, ……., does exist with an estimated
70million of the new breed now in the UK” (Young, 2014).

2. What evidence does the writer have for his 3 claims?

Note down the sources of his information for each claim.

a. Leicester University scientist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz said: “Given enough time, rats could probably
grow to be at least as large as the capybara, the world’s largest rodent, that lives today, that can
reach 80 kilos.”

b. Experts from Huddersfield University, West Yorks, were stunned to find the mega-rodents were
-resistant to traditional rat-killing substances. Professor Dr Dougie Clarke warned: “I think people
should be concerned about these resistant rats because of public health concerns.

c. Experts working for ITV1’s Tonight show, say that they will outnumber humans two-to-one by
the end of the year, when the population will hit 120m.

3. Now look at the page from the University of Leicester website. Can you find any
evidence from Dr Jan Zalasiewicz? What 2 main points is he actually making?
- as ecospace empties, rats will continue to re-fill a significant chunk of it in the mid to
far geological future
- rats could grow to be at least as large as the capybara, the world’s largest rodent.

4. Is there any information in the text about cow-sized rats? What does this tell you about
Young’s claims?
No, there isn’t. Young’s claims not trustworthy.
5. What does this difference between newspapers and the original academic source suggest
in relation to your research?
The difference is that the newspaper does not have any academic evidence and source to
the claim that they are making.

6. Do you trust the newspaper journalist? Does he have authority?

No, I don’t. He does not have authority.

Don’t trust: The Sun, Daily mail, Daily mirror, Daily star, The Telegraph
Do trust: BBC, The Guardian, The Independent
7. Do you trust the publisher (the Daily Star)? Is it reliable?
No, because it is not an academic research platform and there are some claims that does
not have a reliable source.

Rat islands ‘a laboratory of future evolution’

Posted by ap507 at Feb 03, 2014 12:35 PM |
Dr Jan Zalasiewicz predicts rats will continue to grow and fill a ‘significant chunk’
of Earth’s emptying ecospace.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin may have to start working overtime based on suggestions by Dr
Jan Zalasiewicz (pictured) from the Department of Geology, who argues that rats will
continue to get larger in size and population in the future as other mammals become extinct.

The Malagasy giant rat is an example of an islander rat that has adapted to its environment
on the island of Madagascar in unique ways.
Rats are one of the best examples of a species that humans have helped spread around the
world. They have successfully adapted to many of the new environments they have found
themselves in - they are now on most islands and continue to prosper and adapt.
The result is that each island that rats are now present on is in effect a laboratory of
future evolution – and each will produce different adaptive results over time.
Dr Zalasiewicz suggests that as ecospace empties, rats will continue to re-fill a significant
chunk of it in the mid to far geological future - and that, given enough time, rats could
grow to be at least as large as the capybara, the world’s largest rodent.
Occurrences of gigantism in rodents in the past can show the potential scope for evolution -
the largest extinct rodent discovered so far, named the Josephoartegasia monesi, was larger
than a bull, and weighed over a ton.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2014-archive-1/january/rat-islands-2018a-laboratory-of-future-
evolution2019

Source evaluation 2

Imagine that you find a book that you think might be relevant to your research. Which
parts of the book might help you to decide if it is relevant?

Notes

Locate the answers to the following questions by skimming through the first few pages of
the book (next 3 pages of this document), then scan to find the answers and make a note of
them.

1. What is the author’s academic position? Is it relevant to the subject matter?

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Resource Management, Nottingham
Trent University. Yes it is relevant to the subject matter.

2. Does the author have relevant experience of the needs of the potential audience
types?
Yes. He provided analysis and conducted a study.

3. When was the book first published? What has been done to update it since then?
 the book first published since 2000.

4. Does the book seem suitable for academic study?

Yes

Summary

Not another first-hand expose of working fast food, but an analysis of the
extent to which the global corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations
policies in Europe. Based on over six years of empirical study, Royle (human
resource development, Nottingham Trent U.) exposes the conflict between the
national and European-wide regulatory systems and between unions and the
corporation. He argues that such conflict is an inevitable outcome of the
struggle to protect workers' rights in an increasingly internationalized global
economy. Annotation ©. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Tony Royle is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Resource Management,

Nottingham Trent University. He has published widely in the area of labour relations
in multinational corporations and his principal interest is in comparative and
European industrial relations.

Royle, Tony (Author). Working for McDonald's in Europe: Unequal Struggle?

Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000.
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