Lecturers, why waste time waiting for the post to arrive? Request and receive your e-inspection copy today! ′Written in a clear and straightforward fashion that is guaranteed to make you think, as well as encouraging constructive and engaging modes of writing that will improve your connection to your audience.′ - Professor Graham Crow, University of Southampton
How do you respond to adverts? Do you believe what they say, or look for a hidden agenda?
Reading critically, and writing using critical techniques, are crucial skills you need to apply to your academic work. It may seem difficult at first, but you may already be a more critical reader than you think!
This guide helps you develop both the ability to critically ask questions, and a reflective and critical approach to your own research and writing. Broken down into three parts, it builds up your skills and confidence through focused activities that progressively develop your ability to critically read and write.
New to this 2nd edition:
- A range of subject specific examples from areas including linguistics, education, business and management
- Commentaries on using e-resources and features of e-research
- New online resources including worksheet templates, chapter activities and free access to journal articles.
Look at the RESOURCES TAB to view and download the additional materials.
SAGE Study Skills are essential study guides for students of all levels. From how to write great essays and succeeding at university, to writing your undergraduate dissertation and doing postgraduate research, SAGE Study Skills help you get the best from your time at university. Visit the SAGE Study Skills website for tips, quizzes and videos on study success!
Mike Wallace is a Professor of Public Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, where he teaches postgraduate courses on research methods. He was formerly an Associate Director of the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), responsible for research capacity building in the management field, and also the Economic and Social Research Council’s Strategic Adviser for Researcher Development. His research on managing change in the public services is reported in many books and academic journals. Most recently, he is lead author of a major monograph
Developing Public Service Leaders: Elite Orchestration, Change Agency, Leaderism and Neoliberalization (Oxford University Press 2023). He is co-author of
Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (4th edition 2021).
Alison Wray is a Research Professor of Language and Communication at Cardiff University. Her research concerns the modelling of lexical storage and processing, particularly in relation to formulaic phrases, and it has been applied to language learning, evolution of language and language disability. Her two monographs Formulaic Language and the Lexicon (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and Formulaic Language: Pushing the Boundaries (Oxford University Press, 2008) are internationally acclaimed. Her current research focusses on dementia communication. Her 2020 book The Dynamics of Dementia Communication won the 2021 book prize of the British Association for Applied Linguistics and came second in the biennial book award of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. She has also published Why Dementia Makes Communication Difficult: A Guide to Better Outcomes (2021), aimed at people with dementia, their families and carers. She has a longstanding commitment to researcher training, including the developing of academic expertise. She is lead author of the popular undergraduate research methods textbook Projects in Linguistics (Hodder, 2012) and co-author of Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates (4th edition 2021).
