28 January 2016Dan Remenyi1 Critiquing a piece of work Dr Dan Remenyi

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi2 What is a critique? Critique is the art of reviewing a paper/book etc or a presentation or a work of art in such a way as to elicit a fuller understanding of the material presented and the argument/s involved and also express an opinion about the work. Critique is a reflective examination at both a high level and a detailed level. Critique involves passing a judgement and thus needs a base line point of view Critiquing does not imply offering a negative view only i.e. being critical. A critique can be positive.

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi3 A range of critiques There are different frameworks for critique depending on what is being critiqued Papers for publication Degrees –research dissertations Books – academic books – text and research It is primarily an exercise in judgement preferably based on a scholarly and up to date knowledge of the field of study Presentations may also be critiqued

Different frameworks Papers (sometimes referred to as articles) Conferences Journals Degrees –research dissertations  Doctorates  Masters by dissertation  Masters by course work Books – academic books – text and research  For teaching mostly undergraduates 28 January 2016Dan Remenyi4

First things first How substantial is the piece of work? Conference paper 5,000 Journal paper 7,000 Doctorates 80,000 Masters by research dissertation 40,000 Masters by course work 10,000 to 25,000 Look to establish the creditability of authors and publication. Give reasons for your views Is it clear for whom/what the work has been written and from which point of view! 28 January 2016Dan Remenyi5

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi6 Steps in a critique 1 The first step in a critique is to acquire an understanding of what the author/speaker is trying to argue......look for the plot The critique writer may show this by creating a précis or even a diagram of the paper/book or presentation The précis should refer to the justification for the research, the way the work is located in the literature, data, the analysis and the findings

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi7 Steps in a critique 2 Please rate the following: (5 excellent, 1 poor) Relevance to the work 2Contribution to academic debate 3Appropriateness of the research/study method 4Structure of the paper 5Standard of language 6Relevance and clarity of drawings, graphs and tables 7Appropriateness of abstract as a description of the paper 8Use and number of keywords/key phrases 9Discussion and conclusions 10Reference list, adequate and correctly cited

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi8 Steps in a critique 3 Summarising What has been omitted that would have been useful to include? Is there material in the work that was superfluous? Are there mistakes in the work – errors of logic, presentation errors, other errors What are the main strengths of the paper/dissertation/book? What are the main weaknesses of the paper/book?

Some basic rules By the time the paper is being critiqued there should be no:- Typos Spelling errors No grammar problems No NAAWs i.e. Very, plethora, extraordinary, amazing It should have complied with the list of requirements of the publisher or the university Make sure that all authorities cited are included in the list of references and Make sure that all items in the list are used in the text 28 January 2016Dan Remenyi9

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi10 Some conclusions In balance what is your opinion for the piece/s? How do you support your conclusions? What authority are you able to cite to support your conclusions?

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi11 Goodwill When Hayek (famous economist) reviewed Keynes’s (the even more famous economist) Treaties on Money, Keynes wrote on his copy of the review:- Hayek has not read my book with that measure of “goodwill” which an author is entitled to expect of a reader. Until he does so he will not know what I mean or whether I am right. Cited by Checkland P, Systems Theory Systems Practice, 1988 Where at all possible show goodwill towards the work you are critiquing. No piece of work is ever perfect. It is always possible to be negative. But some works are unacceptable If you are critiquing a paper or a dissertation you need to show where the work can be improved

28 January 2016Dan Remenyi12 Tough hard work It is sometimes said that critiquing is tough, hard work as it requires courage to be critical of others especially if they are likely to see your critique and know who you are. There are 3 types of critiques Superficial and thus of little value sometimes unpleasant Some detail which can be either positive or negative Very detailed which can sometimes be helpful