At the undergraduate level in the social sciences you will be regularly called upon to analyse things.

In doing so you will be

expected to demonstrate analytical skills. But what does it mean to ‘analyse’ something and what are ‘analytical’ skills?

When you are asked to analyse a text, a report, a policy document, or whatever, your tutor is basically asking to do a number of
things. These are:

 to identify clearly and concisely the central argument(s) of the text.

 to comment on the logical consistency of the argument(s) you have identified.

 to comment on the way in which the argument is presented.

 to comment on the validity of the evidence used to support the argument(s).

What is the argument? Is it logical and consistent? Is it supported by appropriate evidence?

These are the questions you need to be addressing when analysing a text or document.