How to Critically Analyze an Online News Article

Identifying Key Assumptions and Claims

Reminder: Read widely and use theoretical and empirical evidence to support your arguments. Remember to reference any sources you have cited in your review and apply the APA format.a)Key assumption and claims: First of all, identify the key assumption made by the author of the online news article. Then list the claims presented by the author to support the key assumption. For example, consider an article that appears to assume that boys are smarter than girls (key assumption) based on research studies conducted in co-educational secondary schools in Singapore where boys were found to outperform girls in Maths (claims). b) Viability of the claims: Critically think about the bases for the (key) assumption made. You can do this by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the claims made by the author of the online news article. For example, the research study mentioned was conducted in co-educational secondary schools in Singapore. A strength could be that the data used is official and reliable. However, a weakness is that not all secondary schools in Singapore are co-educational so it may not be representative of all teenage boys and girls in Singapor