Critical Thinking & Data Checking
A critical thinking assesses your ability to use
a range of logical skills to evaluate given
information and make a judgment.
Parts of Critical Thinking
• Identify the Problem:- The first step in critical
thinking is to identify the problem
• Gather Information. It's critical to learn as much as possible about
the problem.
• Evaluate the Evidence.
• Consider Solutions.
• Choose and Implement.
Examples
• A nurse analyzes the cases at hand and
decides the order by which the patients
should be treated.
• A plumber evaluates the materials that
would best suit a particular job.
• An attorney reviews evidence and
devises a strategy to win a case or to
decide whether to settle out of court.
There are typically five separate sections in a critical
thinking test
1.Inference
Inference questions assess your ability to judge
whether a statement is true, false, or impossible to
determine based on the given data and scenario
2. Assumptions
In this section, you are being assessed on your ability
to avoid taking things for granted. Each question gives
a scenario including data, and you need to evaluate
whether there are any assumptions present.
3.Deduction
Here you are given a scenario and a number of
deductions that may be applicable. You need to assess
the given deductions to see which is the logical
conclusion – does it follow?
4.Interpretation
In the interpretation stage, you need to read and
analyze a paragraph of information, then interpret a set
of possible conclusions, to see which one is correct.
You are looking for the conclusion that follows beyond
reasonable doubt.
5.Evaluation of Arguments
In this section, you are given a scenario and a set of
arguments that can be for or against. You need to
determine which are strong arguments and which are
weak, in terms of the information that you have.
Questions
1.Inference
In this section, you need to deduce whether the inferred statement is true, false or
impossible to deduce.
Statement
The UK Government has published data that shows 82% of people under the age of
30 are not homeowners. A charity that helps homeless people has published data
that shows 48% of people that are considered homeless are under 30.
Inference
The lack of affordable housing on the sales market is the reason so many under-30s
are homeless.
Definitely True
Probably True
Impossible to Deduce
Probably False
Definitely False
Answer
The information given does not infer the conclusion given, so it is impossible to
deduce if the inference is correct – there is just not enough information to judge the
inference as correct.
2.Assumptions
Statement
The removal of the five-substitution rule in British football will benefit clubs with a smaller
roster.
Assumption
Clubs with more money would prefer the five-substitute rule to continue.
Assumption Made
Assumption Not Made
Answer
Assumption Not Made
This is an example of a fallacy that could cause confusion for a candidate – it encourages you
to bring in any pre-existing knowledge of football clubs.
It would be easy to assume the assumption has been made when you consider that the
more money a club has, the more players they should have on the roster. However, the
statement does not make the assumption that the clubs with more money would prefer to
continue with the five-substitute rule.
3.Deduction
Statement
All boys love football. Football is a sport, therefore:
All boys love all sports
Girls do not love football
Boys are more likely to choose to play football than any other sport
Answer
In this section we are looking for the conclusion that follows the
logic of the statement. In this example, we cannot deduce that girls
do not love football, because there is not enough information to
support that.
In the same way the conclusion that all boys love all sports does not
follow – we are not given enough information to make that
assumption. So, the conclusion that follows is 3: boys are more
likely to choose football than any other sport because all boys like
football.
4.Interpretation
Statement
The British Museum has a range of artefacts on display,
including the largest privately owned collection of WWII
weaponry.
Conclusion
There is a larger privately owned collection of WWII weaponry in
the USA.
Conclusion Follows
Conclusion Does Not Follow
Answer
Conclusion Does Not Follow
The fact that the collection is in the British Museum does not
make a difference to the fact it is the largest private collection –
so there cannot be a larger collection elsewhere.
5.Evaluation of Arguments
Statement
The Department for Education should lower standards in examinations to make
it fairer for less able students.
Yes – top grades are too hard for lower-income students
No – less fortunate students are not capable of higher standards
Yes – making the standards lower will benefit all students
No – private school students will suffer if grade standards are lower
Answer
The strongest argument is the right answer, not the one that you might
personally believe.
In this case, we need to assess which argument is most relevant to the
statement. Both 1 and 4 refer to students in particular situations, which isn’t
relevant to the statement. The same can be said about 2, so the strongest
argument is 3, since it is relevant and addresses the statement given.
