• The idea of research is to study what others have published and form your own opinions. When you quote people, or even when you summarize or paraphrase information found in books, articles, or Web pages, you must acknowledge the original author.

• If you use someone else's words or ideas without crediting them, you are committing a type of theft called plagiarism. Plagiarism can be as obvious as turning in another person's paper or project as your own or as subtle as paraphrasing sections of various works. It is also incorrect to copy text from Web pages or other sources without identifying where they came from.

Plagiarism

How can you avoid plagiarism?

• Take clear, accurate notes about where you found specific ideas.

• Write down the complete citation information for each item you use.

• Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words.

• Always credit original authors for their information and ideas.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is defined as the ability to assess the authenticity or accuracy of information claims or arguments.

Living in an information rich environment requires that you recognize the dynamic and fluid nature of information and that you posses the skills necessary to successfully meet your information needs within this setting. In order to think critically, one must be information literate. Essentially, critical thinkers demonstrate that they can:

What is it?

• challenge information and demand accountability

• adapt to new sources of information and continue to require credibility

• avoid abrupt conclusions -- reserve judgment until they have more information

• evaluate and re-evaluate sources on a regular basis

Delany, Robert. MLA Citation Style. Retrieved March 16, 2006, from Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus web site: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/CWP/library/workshop/citmla.htm

Ambiguous

• Lack of Clarity

• Uncertain

• Capable of being understood in two senses.

VAGUE

• Uncertain

• Ambiguous

• Somewhat of an idea

SUBJECTIVE CLAIM

“A claim is subjective if whether it is true or false depends on what someone (or something or some group) thinks, believes, or feels. A subjective claim invokes personal standards”

• An editorial in the newspaper

• The Daily Show

• An essay you write for me

Epstein, Richard. (2006). Critical Thinking. United States: Thomson Wadsworth.

OBJECTIVE CLAIM

“A claim is objective if it is not subjective. An objective claim invokes impersonal standards”.

•Proficiency Exam

•Text driven test

Epstein, Richard. (2006). Critical Thinking. United States: Thomson Wadsworth.

DESCRIPTIVE AND PRESCRIPTIVE CLAIMS

“A claim is descriptive if it says what it is. A claim is prescriptive if it says what it should be”.

• Drunken drivers kill more people than sober drivers do.

• There should be a law against drunken driving.

• Paul should put his sweater on today.

• Selling cocaine is against the law.

Epstein, Richard. (2006). Critical Thinking. United States: Thomson Wadsworth.

What is an Argument?

An attempt to convince someone (possibly yourself) that a particular claim, called the conclusion, is true. The rest of the argument is a collection of claims called premises, which are given as the reasons for believing the conclusion is true.

PREMISE and CONCLUSION

• The conclusion follows from the premise. It is impossible for a premise to be true and the conclusion to be false.

• A premise is something we believe to be true or that we take for granted.

• A conclusion is “the necessary consequence of two or more propositions taken as premises”.

Valid Argument – An argument is valid if there is no plausible way for its premises to be true and its conclusion false (at the same time). An argument that is not valid is called invalid. Only an invalid argument can be classified as strong to weak. However, a valid argument does not have to be good – some valid arguments are bad.

Strong and weak arguments – An argument is strong if there is some way, some possibility, for its premises to be true and its conclusion false (at the same time), but every such possibility is extremely unlikely. An argument is weak if it is possible and not unlikely for its premises to be true and its conclusion false (at the same time).

Sound Argument

• The word experts have for valid arguments whose premises are true is “sound”. A sound argument has two characteristics. It is valid, and its premises are all true (Moore, 220)

• Therefore, all sound arguments are valid, but all valid arguments are not sound.

Moore, Brooke and Richard Parker. Critical Thinking. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.