Critical analysis

Learning and teaching resources on the topic of critically evaluating information.

To use an individual resource in your teaching materials (in accordance with the terms of the licence), either link to it directly via the Preview button or click on the file download button. Cardiff University students can also access tutorials and some other resources via the Study Skills section of the Intranet.

Resource title and description Type
Critically appraising for antiracism: recognising racial bias in research
This tutorial provides:
  • Awareness of the issues and consequences of underrepresentation of minoritised ethnic populations in research
  • Awareness of the difference between race and genetic ancestry and how this relates to research
Reading and critically analysing a journal article
This tutorial will discuss how to read and critically analyse an academic journal article. This tutorial will:
  • Explain the broad categorisations of journal articles
  • Explain/outline the peer review process whereby an article is submitted for scholarly evaluation by experts
  • Suggest questions you need to ask when reading and critically analysing a journal article
  • Provide practical tips to facilitate the effective reading and critical analysis of an article
Critical reading and thinking
A guide to help you apply critical reading and thinking strategies to your academic work. By working through this tutorial, you should be able to:
    • Develop your understanding of thinking, reading, and writing critically.
    • Use strategies to select your reading.
    • Understand the Critical Thinking Model and apply it to your academic work.
Tutorial
Critical Appraisal – Identifying Study Design
In order to critically appraise research, students need to be able to identify the study type they are appraising. This quiz can help to test understanding of the different types of study design.
Quiz
Critical appraisal – Identifying biases
This short quiz tests a student's understanding of the different types of bias that can affect the reliability of research.
Quiz
Critical appraisal

An interactive tutorial which teaches students how to think critically about research and research methodology. It gives students the opportunity to:

  • identify different types of bias
  • identify study designs
  • use critical appraisal checklists.
Tutorial
Choosing quality sources for your academic work
In this tutorial you will find information about how to evaluate information, read critically, and determine the credibility of the information you have found in order to select the most appropriate and reliable sources for your academic work.
Understanding your assessment task
This is a Xerte tutorial aimed at postgraduate taught level students. It covers:
  • why we have assessment criteria
  • what is expected of you when completing an assignment
  • how to approach an assignment question, and
  • how to plan your writing and research.
This tutorial is part of the Writing at Postgraduate Level suite.
Evidence pyramid
When searching for information on a particular health question, the evidence pyramid will help with determining which pieces of evidence are the best quality. The evidence pyramid can be downloaded within an explanatory handout or as an image. It can accessed online via Xerte by following the View link.
Image
Evaluating the evidence: critically reading your sources
This Xerte tutorial, aimed at 6th form and further education students, focuses on approaches to critically reading information to determine the credibility and validity of arguments. This tutorial is part of the Evaluating the Evidence Suite created to support schools offering the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate.
Evaluating the evidence: assessing the quality of your sources

This Xerte tutorial, aimed at 6th form and further education students, focuses on techniques for assessing the quality of sources of information.

This tutorial is part of the Evaluating the Evidence suite created to support schools offering the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate.

Evaluating information
This tutorial is aimed at postgraduate taught level students. It covers:
  • Why you should evaluate information
  • How to establish the credibility of the information you have found
  • Techniques for critically reading your sources
  • How to select information that contributes effectively to your assignment
This tutorial is part of the Writing at Postgraduate Level suite.
Evaluating information flowchart
A flowchart that leads step by step through a process of evaluating information from websites.
Image