In this video, we are going to look at critical
writing specifically the difference between descriptive writing and critical writing. A lack
of critical writing is one of the most common issues we encounter when we review dissertations
and thesis and research papers here at Grad Coach. So today we will unpack the thorny issue of
critical writing to help you ace your project. If you are new to the oftentimes intimidating world
of academic research and writing be sure to hit that subscribe button for loads of plain language
actionable advice. Also if you are currently working on a dissertation or thesis be sure to
grab our free dissertation templates which guide you through each chapter step by step. You can
find the links to those in the description below. All right so let us jump into it. Writing
critically is one of the most important skills you will need to master for your academic
journey but what exactly does this mean? Well, when it comes to writing at least for academic
purposes there are two main types descriptive writing and critical writing. Critical writing is
also sometimes referred to as analytical writing so we will use these two terms interchangeably.
Now to understand what constitutes critical or analytical writing it is useful to compare it
against its opposite descriptive writing. So let us have a little showdown, descriptive versus
critical. At the most basic level descriptive writing merely communicates the what, where when
or who in other words it describes a thing, place, time or person. It does not consider anything
beyond that or explore the impact, importance or meaning of the situation. Here is an example of
a descriptive sentence. Yesterday the President unexpectedly fired the Minister of Finance.
As you can see this sentence just states what happened when it happened and who was involved,
classic descriptive writing. Contrasted to this critical writing takes things a step further and
unveils the so what. Basically, it explained the impact or consequence of a given situation. Let us
stick with the same event and look at an example of analytical writing. The President's unexpected
firing of the well-respected Finance Minister had an immediate negative impact on investor
confidence this led to a sharp decrease in the value of the local currency, especially against
the US dollar. This devaluation means that all dollar-based imports are now expected to rise
in cost thereby raising the cost of living for citizens and reducing disposable income. As you
can see in this example the descriptive version only tells us what happened the President fired
the Finance Minister whereas the critical version goes on to discuss some of the impacts of the
President's actions. Ideally, critical writing should always link back to the broader objectives
of the paper or project explaining what each thing or event means in relation to those objectives.
In a dissertation or thesis, this would involve linking the discussion back to the research aims,
objectives and research questions. Sounds a bit fluffy and conceptual well let us take a look
at an example. If your research aims involved understanding how the local environment impacts
demand for speciality imported vegetables you would need to explain how the devaluation of the
local currency means that the imported vegetables would become more expensive relative to locally
farmed options. This in turn would likely have a negative impact on sales as consumers would
turn to cheaper local alternatives. So as you can see critical or analytical writing goes beyond
just describing that is what descriptive writing covers and instead focuses on the meaning of
things, events and situations. Within a research context a dissertation or a thesis critical
writing links these things to the research aims, objectives and research questions the golden
thread. If this sounds a bit foreign you can learn more about the golden thread and how that
all fits together in this video. Alright so as I have mentioned descriptive writing focuses on the
what while critical writing focuses on the so what the meaning. To make this distinction a little
more tangible let us look at how this plays out in a typical dissertation or research project. Within
a literature review, descriptive writing would explain what a theory, author or journal article
said whereas critical writing would explain how that is relevant to the key issues and research
questions. Similarly, within a methodology chapter, descriptive writing would state which
methods were used whereas analytical writing would explain why these methods were relevant and
justified in light of the specific research aims. Lastly, within a discussion chapter, descriptive
writing would merely state a relationship between two variables whereas critical writing would
explain what this relationship means in terms of the research questions how it compares to existing
research and if it contrasts with the literature why this might be. So as you can see critical
writing goes deeper scratching below the surface to extract the meaning and impact of things.
So does this mean you should avoid descriptive writing altogether, not quite. For the most part,
you will need some descriptive writing to lay the foundation for the critical, analytical writing.
You will usually need to state the what before you can discuss the so what. Therefore description
is simply unavoidable and in fact quite essential but you do want to keep it to a minimum and
focus your word count on the analytical side of things. As you write a good rule of thumb
is to identify every what in other words every descriptive point you make and then check whether
it is accompanied by a so what. In other words a critical conclusion regarding its meaning or
impact. Of course, this will not always be necessary as some conclusions are fairly obvious
and go without saying but this basic practice should help you minimise description maximise
analysis and most importantly earn you marks. If you enjoyed the video please hit that
like button and leave a comment. For more videos like this check out the Grad Coach
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if you are looking for one-on-one support with your research project be sure to
check out our private coaching service where we hold your hand throughout the
research process step by step. You can learn more about that and book a free
initial consultation at gradcoach.com.