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Relevance:
How is that connected to the main question? How does that bear on the issue?
A
statement can be clear, accurate, and precise, but not relevant to the question at
issue. For example, students often think that the amount of effort they put into a
course should be used in raising their grade in a course. Often, however, “effort”
does not measure the quality of student learning, and when that is so, effort is
irrelevant to their appropriate grade.
Depth:
How does your answer address the complexities in the question? How are you taking
into account the problems in the question? Is that dealing with the most significant
factors?
A statement can be clear, accurate, precise, and relevant, but superficial
(
that is, lack of depth). For example, the statement “Just Say No” which is often used
to discourage children and teens from taking drugs, is clear, accurate, precise, and
relevant. Nevertheless, it lacks depth because it treats an extremely complex issue,
the pervasive problem of drug use among young people, superficially. It fails to deal
with the complexities of the issue.
Breadth:
Do we need to consider another point of view? Is there another way to look at this
question? What would this look like from a conservative standpoint? What would this
look like from the point of view of…?
A line of reasoning may be clear, accurate,
precise, relevant, and deep, but lacks breadth (as in an argument from either the
conservative or liberal standpoints which gets deeply into an issue, but only
recognises the insights of one side of the question).
Logic:
Does this really make sense? Does that follow from what you said? How does that
follow? But before you implied this and now you are saying that, I don’t see how both
can be true.
When we think, we bring a variety of thoughts together into some order.
When the combination of thoughts are mutually supporting and make sense in
combination, the thinking is “logical.” When the combination is not mutually
supporting, is contradictory in some sense, or does not “make sense,” the
combination is “not logical.”