Become skilled and confident at critical reading and writing, developing a more thorough critical approach to improve your research and writing.
Reading critically, and writing using critical techniques, are crucial skills you need to apply to your academic work. Practical and engaging, Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduatesis bursting with tools for analysing texts and structuring critical reviews, helping you to gradually build your skills beyond undergraduate level and gain confidence in your ability to critically read and write.
New to this 3rd edition:
Introduces a technique for developing critical thinking skills by interrogating paper abstracts
Additional diagrams, exercises and concept explanations, enabling you to more easily understand and apply the various approaches
- A glossary, to help with understanding of key terms.
Also new for this edition, a Companion Websiteprovides additional resources to help you apply the critical techniques you learn. From templates and checklists, access to SAGE journal articles and additional case studies, these free resources will make sure you successfully master advanced critical skills.
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If you need to engage with published (or unpublished) literature such as essays, dissertations or theses, research papers or oral presentations, this proven guide helps you develop a reflective and advanced critical approach to your research and writing.
SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills website for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!
Recenzijas
This updated and expanded edition contains a welcome revision of a very useful guide to critical reading, writing and thinking in academic work. It provides an extremely detailed step-by-step guide to engaging with several types of academic literature and it presents numerous worked examples of how critical writing should be done. The book should be regarded as essential reading for postgraduate students, especially with regard to the preparation of dissertations and theses. It will also be of great value for academics engaged in the critical review of literature in their respective fields and for critical reflection upon their own work for publication. -- Alan Phipps This book will be a must read for my research students. It is practical with its various techniques and strategies, without being prescriptive. It will build your confidence in critically engaging with what you read and, because the authors treat reading and writing as an intertwined process, it will help with evidencing your own claims, identifying gaps in your arguments and seeing the assumptions you forget you are making. Indeed this book has the capacity to support us all to become better writers. -- Melanie Nind This book demystifies the what and why of critical reading and writing in a highly accessible way. Scaffolded activities which encourage self-reflection provide essential practice for postgraduates wishing to develop their critical sub-skills, and are also an invaluable resource for Learning Development professionals working to foster these sub-skills in their students, whatever their disciplinary context or cultural background. -- Chris Bishop
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List of Figures and Tables |
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vii | |
| Author Biographies |
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ix | |
| Acknowledgements |
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x | |
| How to Use This Book |
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xi | |
| Companion Website |
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xv | |
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Part One Becoming a Critical Reader and Self-Critical Writer |
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1 | (72) |
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1 What It Means to Be Critical |
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3 | (11) |
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2 Making a Critical Choice |
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14 | (14) |
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3 A First Look: Interrogating Abstracts |
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28 | (6) |
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4 Getting Started on Critical Reading |
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34 | (17) |
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5 Getting Started on Self-Critical Writing |
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51 | (10) |
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6 Creating a Comparative Critical Summary |
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61 | (12) |
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Part Two Developing an In-Depth Analysis |
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73 | (90) |
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7 A Mental Map for Navigating the Literature |
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75 | (9) |
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8 Tools for Thinking and Ways of Thinking |
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84 | (15) |
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9 Reasons for Conducting the Research |
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99 | (7) |
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10 Knowledge Claims and Their Key Characteristics |
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106 | (17) |
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11 Developing a Critical Analysis of a Text |
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123 | (10) |
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12 A Worked Example of a Critical Analysis |
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133 | (17) |
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13 Developing Your Argument in Writing a Critical Review of a Text |
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150 | (13) |
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Part Three Putting Your Critical Reviews to Work |
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163 | (81) |
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14 Focusing and Building Up Your Critical Literature Review |
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165 | (17) |
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15 Integrating Critical Literature Reviews into Your Dissertation |
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182 | (21) |
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16 Critical Literature Reviews in Alternative Dissertation Structures |
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203 | (11) |
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17 Tools for Structuring a Dissertation |
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214 | (18) |
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18 Using the Literature in Research Papers and Oral Presentations |
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232 | (12) |
| Glossary |
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244 | (6) |
| Appendix 1 Abridged article: `One word or two?' (Wray and Staczek, 2005) |
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250 | (11) |
| Appendix 2 Abridged article: `Sharing leadership of schools through teamwork' (Wallace, 2001) |
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261 | (15) |
| Index |
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276 | |
Mike Wallace is a Professor of Public Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, where he teaches postgraduate courses on research methods. He was formerly an Associate Director of the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), responsible for research capacity building in the management field, and also the Economic and Social Research Councils Strategic Adviser for Researcher Development. His research on managing change in the public services is reported in many books and academic journals. Most recently, he is lead author of a major monograph Developing Public Service Leaders: Elite Orchestration, Change Agency, Leaderism and Neoliberalization (Oxford University Press 2023). He is co-author of Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (4th edition 2021). Alison Wray is a Research Professor of Language and Communication at Cardiff University. Her research concerns the modelling of lexical storage and processing, particularly in relation to formulaic phrases, and it has been applied to language learning, evolution of language and language disability. Her two monographs Formulaic Language and the Lexicon (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and Formulaic Language: Pushing the Boundaries (Oxford University Press, 2008) are internationally acclaimed. Her current research focusses on dementia communication. Her 2020 book The Dynamics of Dementia Communication won the 2021 book prize of the British Association for Applied Linguistics and came second in the biennial book award of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. She has also published Why Dementia Makes Communication Difficult: A Guide to Better Outcomes (2021), aimed at people with dementia, their families and carers. She has a longstanding commitment to researcher training, including the developing of academic expertise. She is lead author of the popular undergraduate research methods textbook Projects in Linguistics (Hodder, 2012) and co-author of Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (4th edition 2021).
