1. Sakamon Devahastin Department of Food Engineering King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi Bangkok, Thailand February 2, 2015 Critical Reading for Academic Purposes

2. Outline What is critical reading? Steps in critical reading Typical flaws Some reading examples

3. What is critical reading? A form of reading that does not take text only at its surface Involves examination of claims as well as implicit bias (framing and selection of presented information) Implies critical examination of concepts and soundness of arguments and assumptions

4. Steps in critical reading Selecting an article –Look at title, keywords and abstract to see if an article worth further reading Scanning of an article –Scan an article, starting with Introduction and Conclusion –Decide if further ‘critical’ reading is worthwhile –Make notes of key contents and ideas nevertheless

5. Steps in critical reading Detailed reading –Read an article from the beginning to the end –Highlight important ideas/information –Make notes in the margins –Cross check the article with textbooks –Discussion among peers is encouraged!

6. Steps in critical reading Evaluating the correctness/completeness –Methods appropriate & Experiments well designed? –Details given adequately? –Results relevant and reproducible? –Statistics used appropriately? –Conclusions made logically based on results?

7. Typical flaws No ‘solid’ rationale for the work Poor experimental procedures and design OR inadequate information is given Assumptions are made without justification Supporting evidences are not available or not reliable – only speculations are given

8. Typical flaws Critical analysis of results is missing Important facts/details are not considered Conclusion does not follow from results

9. Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin D and calcium, substances essential for building and maintaining bones. Many people therefore believe that a diet rich in dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease in which the bones weaken significantly with age and that is linked to both environmental and genetic factors. However, a long- term study of a large number of people has found that those who have consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study have a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. Since bone fractures are a symptom of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis. Try this…

10. Milk and dairy products are rich in vitamin D and calcium, substances essential for building and maintaining bones. Many people therefore believe that a diet rich in dairy products can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease in which the bones weaken significantly with age and that is linked to both environmental and genetic factors. However, a long- term study of a large number of people has found that those who have consistently consumed dairy products throughout the years of the study have a higher rate of bone fractures than any other participants in the study. Since bone fractures are a symptom of osteoporosis, this study result shows that a diet rich in dairy products may actually increase, rather than decrease, the risk of osteoporosis. Noticed these phrases?

11. Be careful about… Use uncontrolled sample sets – no information on sample preparation/storage prior to experiment Poor experimental design Poor selection of experimental/measurement methods Poor use of statistics to analyze the results

12. Some real examples… Compare properties of two dried samples at different moisture contents Obtain images for subsequent analysis without controlling source of light Only show measurement results without giving any ‘detailed’ analysis

13. Some real examples… No ‘real’ evidence to support claims – only speculation is given (even worse with no references!) Unjustified or ME-TOO assumptions

14. Enjoy reading! Thank you