Stuart M. Keeley, Janet B. Parks, Lucie Thibault
chapter
3Thinking CriticallyAbout Sport Management
From the Experts
• Bob Boucher
• Janet Harris
• Allen Edwards
• Wendy Frisby (continued)
From the Experts (continued)
• Managers of the future– Need exceptional thinking skills– Must deal with contemporary issues
• Making good decisions– Not based on expediency– Based on justification
Becoming a Critical Thinker
• Components of critical thinking– Conscious reflection– Recognition of conflicting values
• Scenario– High school basketball player collapses during a
tournament game.– What would your decision be?
What Is Critical Thinking?
• What critical thinking is not– Just thinking– Negative thinking– Creative thinking
• What critical thinking really is– Awareness– Ability– Desire
(continued)
What Is Critical Thinking? (continued)
• Ideal critical thinkers– Care that their beliefs are true– Care to present a position honestly and clearly– Care about dignity and worth of others
An Equation of Critical Thinking
The essence of critical thinking
Critical thinking = Questioning skills + Desire toquestion and accept the results of the questioning
Sponge Versus Panning-for-Gold
• Sponge approach– By absorption– Fails to provide methods to believe or reject– Is ineffective
• Panning-for-gold approach– Listen with a special attitude– Interact actively with information and arguments– Allows you to sift through information available– Have a sense of self-confidence about beliefs– Have the ability to provide good justification
Critical Thinking Questions
• What are the issues and conclusions?
• What are the reasons?
• What words or phrases are ambiguous?
• What are the value conflicts and assumptions?
(continued)
Critical Thinking Questions (continued)
• What are the descriptive assumptions?
• Does the reasoning contain fallacies?
• How good is the evidence?
• What significant information is omitted?
What Are the Issuesand the Conclusion?
• Identify the issue
• Identify the conclusion
• Descriptive versus prescriptive
What Are the Reasons?
• Used to justify conclusion
• Helps answer the why question
• Reasons + Conclusion = Argument
• Merits based on quality
What Words or PhrasesAre Ambiguous?
• Clarify key terms and phrases
• Seek clarification
• Make a conscious effort to recognize how changes in meaning will influence your reaction
What Are the Descriptive Assumptions? (an example)
• Scenario: Women’s Sports Foundation (2005)
• Conclusion and reason of scenario
• Assumptions of scenario
• Accept or reject
Does the ReasoningContain Fallacies?
• Fallacies are mistakes in reasoning
• Represent erroneous or false assumptions
• Example: public moneys
How Good Is the Evidence?
• Quality and quantity
• Descriptive claims
• Forms of evidence
• Different kinds of evidence
Quality and Quantity
• The greater the quality and quantity of evidence, the more we can depend on it as fact
• Facts and beliefs should be supported with abundant evidence
• Opinions versus facts
Descriptive Claims
• Need to know what descriptive claims to count on
• Questions– Where is the evidence?– How good is the evidence?– What’s your proof?– How do you know that?
Forms of Evidence
Good evidence depends on kind of evidence, such as
• Intuition• Appeals to authorities• Testimonials• Personal evidence• Case studies and example• Scientific research studies• Analogies
Different Kinds of Evidence
• Appeals to authority
• Personal testimonials
• Case studies
• Scientific studies
• Analogies
What Significant InformationIs Omitted?
• Browne and Keeley (2004) highlight important kinds of omitted information
• By explicitly looking for missing information, you can decide whether you have enough information to judge the author’s reasoning
