Write one essay that addresses both of these areas: Discuss the usefulness of critical thinking when evaluating competing sources of evidence.
Critical thinking is an intellectual discipline, which analyzes different data sources to form an objective analysis of the facts (Lau, 2011). There are several terms associated with critical thinking such as rational and unbiased analysis from the factual evidence. Critical thinking is an important asset in the rational analysis and thinking. A person equipped with rational thinking can take right decisions (Tittle, 2011). It is also important to develop critical thinking can case of dilemma and complex decision-making. Critical thinking gives an individual power to take the right decision and examine complex issues. It is also an important asset for the researchers and contributes in increasing the reliability and validity of the data. In academic research, there are several instances when the researcher encounters conflicting sources of data. In such cases, it is important to have critical thinking ability to distinguish conflicting data sources (Padget, 2012). The present essay will discuss the importance of critical thinking ability in analyzing contrasting data sources. The essay will also shed light on the strategies and methods, which can be used to prevent these problems.
The research is a complex phenomenon in which the researcher has to conduct different activities pertaining to the accomplishment of research. In all these activities, the researcher encounters different information; therefore, it is important to adopt critical thinking for the careful acquisition and the interpretation of the information. In academic activities, critical thinking is an important element in all professional fields and academic disciplines. Critical thinking refers to the careful attainment and interpretation of the information so that the researcher can arrive at a well-defined conclusion. Critical thinking is applicable to any case; however, there are various forms of critical thinking. It is the process of questioning, evaluating, reconstructing, and challenging the established theory and practice (Padget, 2012). Such practice can result in the formation of new theories and paradigms. It is very important in research. Critical thinking is the only manner to decide whether an information is true or false. It is the way to conclude the viability of the research.
In research process, a researcher may encounter sources with conflicting views and approaches. In this scenario, it is important for the researcher to use the critical thinking ability to analyze the viability and the reliability of different resources. In such situations, the researcher must focus on the viability and the authenticity of the resource (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Blogs and Wikipedia are not considered as the authentic resources as they can be written and edited by anyone. Moreover, they represent the personal opinions of the authors, which may be biased or false. While encountering conflicting sources, the researcher will encounter the dilemma whether first source is true or the second source is true. If both the sources are included in the research, it will yield contrary results. Moreover, it is important to analyze authenticity of the resources before including them in the research as it can obstruct the authenticity of the research.
Therefore, when the researcher encounters conflicting resources, they should examine the authenticity of the resources. In order to analyze the authenticity of the sources, the credibility of the resource must be examined. Peer-reviewed research articles and articles published in journal articles have high credibility as the authenticity of the information is examined by several authors. The information published in these articles is authentic and have high credibility. They can be used as authentic resource of information (McDonald, Bammer & Deane, 2009).
Competing data and competing hypothesis also occurs when, the researcher tries to explain a social phenomenon with the observed data. It is a challenging issue and assist the researcher in identifying the reasonable alternatives and evaluating the plausibility of each of the theory. However, it the analysis of the competing hypothesis, it is very difficult for the researcher to match each of the collected data with the competing theory. Comparing two or three hypothesis is beyond the cognitive ability of the human brain. In this regard, the researcher can separately examine each hypothesis and compare them the collected data.
When there are conflicting results from different data sources, then the user can use the method of triangulation to assure that the data is credible. In the recent years, both qualitative and quantitative methods are being used to overcome the weakness of one research method. It can be critiqued that the research is the systematic investigation which can be used to find solutions to a problem. However, in social research, it is difficult to conduct an enquiry as various elements influence each other and; therefore, each element cannot be measured singularly.
Moreover, if only one research method is used for conducting research, then the research is affected by the deficiencies of one research method. Therefore, the weakness of one method can be overcome by combining different research methods and capitalizing on the individual strengths of different methods. Triangulation is one such method in which the researcher assures that the results of different results yield similar results or at least do not yield contradictory results.
Due to several benefits, triangulation has become an accepted practice in the social research. It is the combination of various research methods to study the same phenomenon in social research. The process of triangulation can be achieved by using different research techniques which can cross-check the completeness and authenticity of different research methods. It can also increase the credibility and the validity of different research. By combining multiple observations, theories and empirical evidence, the researchers can overcome intrinsic bias or weaknesses arising from single observation and single theory studies (Scott & Morrison, 2007).
The triangulation can eradicate three types of errors, such as data source triangulation, methodology triangulation, and theory triangulation. The data source triangulation is the use of different data sources such as primary and secondary data sources such as interviews, observations, and public records (McDonald, Bammer & Deane, 2009). The methodology triangulation is the use of several different methods to obtain data, such as the use of interviews, observations, questionnaires, which can be used to conduct primary research. The theory triangulation is the use of theoretical approach to interpret and support data. There are several benefits of data triangulation such as several different sources of information can provide more insight into the subject, inadequacies in one-source data can be reduced when different data sources can confirm the same information. With this approach, comprehensive data can be obtained (Merterns, & Hesse-Biber, 2012).
There are also other approaches to test the competing hypothesis which assist the researcher to arrive at a logical conclusion. There are several aspects which needs careful weighing and arrive at an alternative conclusion. A step-wise procedure can be used to gain basic insight from the dilemma. A comprehensive decision-making process is grounded in the principles of cognitive psychology, decision analysis and the scientific methods. The analysis examines alternative hypothesis in each other favor rather than examining each other’s plausibility (Flick, 2008). In this approach, all the possible hypotheses are considered and different perspectives are analyzed to brainstorm different possibilities. There should be differentiation in the hypothesis generation and the hypothesis evaluation stage. The brainstorming is the process of simulating imagination and analyzing all kind of opportunities for their likelihood and feasibility. The number of hypothesis to be considered depends upon the analytical problem. In the next phase, the researcher or the decision-maker should list all the significant evidence made for each hypothesis. While assembling the list of relevant evidence and arguments, the researcher should examine all the factors which can impact on the judgment regarding the hypothesis. In the last step, the researcher should draw tentative conclusion based on the likelihood of each of the hypothesis (Maree & Westhuizen, 2009).
It can be concluded that the research process is the assembling of several complex processes. One of the most complex issue encountered in the research process is competing source of evidence. It is the process in which two theories contradict each other backed by different source of evidence. In social experiments, the scientists observe different social phenomenon, make observations and provide different hypothesis to explain the phenomenon. There are several reasons of competing data sources such as unauthentic sources. The unauthentic data sources refers to the personal views of the authors without any evidence. The information collected from Wikipedia and personal blogs come under this category as the information is the personal views of the author. The triangulation is a common method which can be used to address the issue
References
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners. SAGE.
Flick, U. (2008). Managing Quality in Qualitative Research. SAGE.
Lau, J.Y.F. (2011). An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity: Think More, Think Better. John Wiley & Sons.
Maree, K., & Westhuizen, C. (2009). Head Start in Designing Research Proposals in the Social Sciences. Juta and Company Ltd.
McDonald, D., Bammer, G., & Deane, P. (2009). Research Integration Using Dialogue Methods. ANU E Press.
Mertens, D.M., & Hesse-Biber, S. (2012). Triangulation and Mixed Methods Research: Provocative Positions. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 6(2), 75-79.
Padget, S. (2012). Creativity and Critical Thinking. Routledge.
Scott, D., & Morrison, M. (2007). Key Ideas in Educational Research. A&C Black.
Tittle, P. (2011). Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason. Routledge.
Watson, R., McKenna, H., Cowman, S., & Keady, J. (2008). Nursing Research: Designs and Methods E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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