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Critical Thinking on Contemporary Issues
Taking Sides, n.d; Wade & Tavris, 2005). Triangulating information from various sources
resulted in a list of “Nine Important Questions to Ask When Thinking Critically.” The
nine questions focus on both the source of information and the presentation of information.
More specifically, the questions are:
1 What is fact and what is opinion?
2 Where do the facts come from?
3 What cause/effect relationships are proposed?
4 Are there faulty generalizations?
5 Is the issue oversimplified?
6 Is propaganda being used?
7 Is the information distorted?
8 Is deception being used?
9 Is stereotyping or ethnocentric thinking being employed?
We discuss each question in more detail in the following pages, including associated objec-
tives and related content areas as well as examples of the ways in which we can use the
Taking Sides book in practicing the related critical thinking skills.
Question #1: What is Fact and What is Opinion?
In this phase of critical thinking development, the objective is for students to develop the
ability to distinguish between an assertion based on fact and an assertion based on opinion.
A fact is a piece of information supported by evidence and linked to empirical data. We then
incorporate this association between facts and empirical data into a lecture on psychological
science and the use of the empirical method, typically in the first week of class.
The Taking Sides Issue #8 discussion of divorce and its impact on children (Hetherington &
Kelly, 2006; Wallerstein & Lewis, 2006) brings a discussion to life while introducing
important issues related to facts, opinions, and empirical evidence. We assign the task of
reading both perspectives and then instruct students to find information on the Internet
regarding each of the lead authors, Judith Wallerstein and E. Mavis Hetherington.
Inevitably several students come back with the information that Wallerstein is the fore-
most authority on divorce in this country. When asked the source of this claim, students
credit a Web site listed on the first page of results from a Google search of her name—
a Web site duplicating the inside cover of her book jacket (Wallerstein, Lewis, & Blakeslee,
2002). This observation leads to a natural discussion of the difference between fact and
opinion. The recognition that all opinions are not equally valid is an important first step
for students who are still learning to think scientifically (Ruggiero, 2006).
Question #2: Where do the Facts Come From?
Having established the difference between facts and opinion, the next task is to differenti-
ate between diverse sources of empirical information. The objective at this stage is for