There are six main skills you can develop to successfully analyze facts and situations and draw logical conclusions: 1. Analytical thinking. Being able to correctly analyze information is critical thinking and academic research. Academic research focuses on creating new ideas, perspectives, and arguments. The researcher searches for relevant information in articles, books, and other sources, then develops an informed point of view within this ongoing conversation among researchers. The research process is not critical thinking. Critical thinking is a widely accepted educational goal. Its definition is contested, but competing definitions can be understood as different conceptions of the same basic concept: goal-directed careful thinking. Conceptions differ as to the scope of such reflection, the type of objective, the criteria and the standards. Critical thinking refers to the ability to objectively analyze information and make reasoned judgments. It involves evaluating sources, such as data, facts, observable phenomena, and research results. Good critical thinkers can draw reasonable conclusions from a body of information and distinguish between those that are useful and those that are less so.