Top Strategies to Develop Critical Thinking for Your PhD Research

A PhD is the highest level of academic qualification you can achieve but also a challenge, especially when it comes to the critical thinking needed for writing. Critical thinking is a comprehensive life skill that helps students in all disciplines. Once mastered, this skill can be helpful for professional growth even after academic studies. Businesses, organisations and institutions all over the world often prefer to hire candidates with good critical thinking skills.

Critical thinking skills make it easier for PhD students to interpret and analyse information. It also assists in forming better arguments while writing your PhD dissertation. If you are looking for ways to eliminate flaws from your PhD research or learn to think and act promptly, here are a few strategies that will help you in acing your PhD by developing critical thinking skills.

1. Understand what you want for your research

To develop critical thinking, you must first understand what you want to achieve with your research. Knowing your objectives will help you to think critically and find ways to achieve your goals. Additionally, it will make it easier for you to find solutions to problems incurred in your research. The decisions that you will make during your PhD studies will directly impact your research. By attaching a purpose to your decision, you can identify the expected end result and decide the starting point. Creating a list of questions related to your research and finding a purpose behind these questions will assist you in knowing your expectations.

2. Question assumptions

Using a questioning approach can help you develop critical thinking. As PhD research is a long-term process, you will come across various beliefs and assumptions. Instead of following these beliefs, raise questions to get more clarity about the subject. For example, while discussing your research with your PhD mentor, ask questions based on popular beliefs. After getting an answer from your mentor, dig further or research more about the topic to ensure the validity of these beliefs. By questioning assumptions, you can gain an understanding of what others think about the research. It will also be useful in developing a fresh perspective on the research.

3. Collect information

As a PhD researcher, there will be times when you will have to go through multiple journals, books, academic articles and websites to collect information for your research. The more information you have, the better your chances of getting an insight into the subject. Moreover, it will also help you in understanding the different theories, methodologies or tools used in your industry. Researching information is a good way to dig deeper into a subject. All the information you come across will make you think critically and will help you in finding solutions to your research problems.

 

4. Think logically

To correlate different pieces of information, you will have to think logically and create a chain. While discussing the results of your research, this skill will make sure that all your arguments are based on practical evidence collected from trusted sources. To think logically, try to find out similarities between different sources of information. You can also see how this information is related to your research or subject area. Furthermore, see how your work will benefit from the information. You can also improve your logical thinking by attending academic conferences or listening to speakers. This will tell you about their ideas and whether you can use them in your work to solve a problem differently.

4. Know your mental process

Critical thinking is a mental skill that needs continuous practice for the best results. Thus, it is important to know your mental process before you develop critical thinking. To understand your mental process, identify and analyse the ways in which you receive and process information. See how you listen to others, interpret their information in your mind and react to new information. However, you cannot identify your mental process in a short period. For that, you will have to put yourself in different real-world situations and see your reaction. As a critical thinker, knowing your perceptions and their influence on your decisions can help you in getting efficient solutions.

5. Evaluate your work

Critical thinking also involves evaluating your work and identifying your strengths and weaknesses. While going through your PhD thesis writing, you will come across different arguments made. Rereading your own work will also tell you which sections of your dissertation are critically written and which need improvement. Instead of following someone else’s perspective, critical thinking will allow you to present your ideas. Making rational statements on different arguments will also show your capability to accept, process and present information.

6. Simplify things

Although developing critical thinking skills is a gradual process, you can learn to think critically by simplifying things. Whenever you come across complex information, break it down into small sections to process it easily. This will save you from overthinking and make it easier for you to use that information in your research. Furthermore, if you face any difficulties and are unable to find a solution, do not get frustrated. Instead, seek help from your PhD mentor or other researchers. This will make you forget your beliefs and will introduce you to new ideas.

7. You cannot start thinking critically immediately

Developing critical thinking skills is a time-consuming process that needs continuous practice. Critical thinking is not just a single skill but a group of different skills linked together. To think critically, you will first have to develop your analysis skills. This will strengthen your ability to accumulate and process information. Next, you will have to interpret efficiently to draw meaningful solutions from the information. Critical thinking also involves inference where you can assess the adequacy and reliability of your information. By evaluating the information you can make decisions and explain your findings. Once you develop these skills, you will have to constantly monitor your thinking style and improve it. Moreover, with an open mind, you can solve problems by taking into consideration different perspectives. Regularly putting these skills to use will help you develop strong critical thinking skills.