Critical analysis
The ability to analyse and synthesis facts, data and concepts is essential to successful research.
- What is analysis and synthesis?
- Why are analysis and synthesis important?
- How can you improve your analysis and synthesis skills?
- What does a review include?
The skills of analysis and synthesis are essential for all academic enquiry
Do you know how to analyse and sythesise, data, literature, concepts and facts?
The skills of analysis and synthesis are vital to be effective in research. Read our guide below which breaks down these two skills, and gives advice on how you can improve on them.
What is analysis?
- Analysis describes the action of breaking a set of ideas or subject matter down into constituent parts.
- This description of analysis is a generic term referring to the way a researcher engages with published literature and academic writing.
- There is also a more discipline-specific, technical usage of analysis that refers to the methods and tools that are used to extract meaning from the information or data gathered in research investigations.
What is synthesis?
- Synthesis describes the action of putting different constituent parts together to form a coherent whole.
- This synthesised whole however is bigger than the sum of its analysed parts because it also includes the ‘voice’ of the researcher.
- As a researcher, you add your own knowledge and apply your own critical and creative thinking skills to develop intellectual arguments that are expressed in the synthesis.
Why are analysis and synthesis important?
- Analysis and synthesis are the first skills needed when tackling new literature and concepts for your research.
- These skills are needed for literature reviews and to justify research projects. As these aspects tend to be continuous throughout academia, the skills of analysis and synthesis will be used frequently.
- The technical usage of analysis can be used to inform the hypothesis by identifying trends and drawing conclusions from the gathered data.
- Research papers for peer review are constructed from the skills of analysis and synthesis.
How can you improve your analysis and synthesis skills?
- Identify the limits to your research area and associated topics – finding the boundaries to your research indicates how your research field has been structured by the wider research community.
- Review papers and books – study first the essential papers and books in your field; these in turn will lead to further references to pursue. Aim to use competing reviews, as differing perspectives from various authors can help you to understand concepts better.
- Understand your research area – aim to go as deep as possible in understanding your research area. Talk to fellow researchers and your supervisor to access as many relevant resources as possible. Define the specific topics and sub-topics in your area. Knowledge tends to be ordered hierarchically and processing this information involves breaking it down into manageable ‘chunks.’
- Structure your analysis – structure your analysis by, for example, categorising publications into groups of similar topics or sub-topics. Ensure your organisational system is resilient and remember to back up your work and keep copies.
- Form a balanced view of the research issues – test your knowledge, by preparing and anticipating questions that may be asked of you about the research you are analysing. Forming answers to these questions can help to solidify the knowledge in your mind, and help you to navigate the map of your research field.
- Technical analysis – tools and techniques for handling data for different disciplines are continuously being improved. Be aware of any meetings that focus on changing tools and methods to analyse data. For inter-disciplinary projects, review the data handling methods for new disciplines, as these can inform the methods used for your own discipline.
What does a review include?
- A summary of the up-to-date research area of interest, which shows which areas have been investigated and the results that were obtained.
- A brief description of the methods of investigation that have been used in the research.
- A description of common findings among different studies and inconsistencies between studies.
- Factors not previously considered and speculations on future research.
- Citations of the relevant publications by other researchers in the field.
Final takeaways
- Analysis and synthesis are the first skills needed when tackling new literature and concepts for your research.
- These skills are needed for literature reviews and to justify research projects. As these aspects tend to be continuous throughout academia, the skills of analysis and synthesis will be used frequently.
- Understand your research area – aim to go as deep as possible in understanding your research area. Talk to fellow researchers and your supervisor to access as many relevant resources as possible. Define the specific topics and sub-topics in your area.