Critical Thinking Quiz

What does it mean to think critically?

• To criticize things for their shortcomings

• To think actively, with an awareness of potential problems in the information you encounter

• To consider things in a logical manner

• To imagine what it would be like to be criticized

Why is it important to evaluate any information you encounter?

• Information may contain defects or may be incomplete

• Information may contain answers to my questions

• Information may be difficult to understand

• Information may not be helpful

What question should you have in mind when you encounter information?

• Is it current?

• Is it accurate?

• Is the person providing the information an authority

• All of the above

How do you know if information found satisfies your needs?

• I found everything I needed by consulting one source

• It looks like it could be true

• I feel like the author is telling the truth

• After consulting several sources, the information I found completely addresses my research topic

What are we concerned with when we ask if a person providing information is an authority?

• Whether that person is in charge of people

• If that person knows who the author is

• If that person has relevant expertise in the subject being presented

• If the author knows something no other author knows

What does it mean if information is current?

• It's up-to-date

• It's part of a new fad

• It's a hot topic

• It's probably outdated or obsolete

Why might commercial sources of information present problems for researchers?

• Most researchers don't have credit cards

• Advertisements reduce the amount of information you can see on the screen

• You might be asked to buy something you don't want

• You might not get the best information available, only that which some company has paid to have shown to you

What is an example of a motive to providing information?

• Someone might be trying to sell you something

• Someone believes he or she has valuable knowledge or experience worth sharing with other people

• Someone wants to make information freely available in order to help people

• All of the above

Why should you care if the information you're examining is complete?

• You might need to pursue another research topic instead

• You wouldn't be able to list it in a bibliography

• You might not have all the facts

• You really don't need to know all the facts

Why should you always try to find better sources of information?

• Because if you do not seek out superior sources your understanding of a subject might be incomplete or incorrect

• Because you can never use old or historical information

• Because only the newest information available can ever be trusted

• Because inferior sources take too long to document in a research paper