Critical Thinking:
When reading always be aware of the difference between fact and opinion, both should be evaluated NOT just accepted as objective truth.
Some 'Facts' carry more weight than others; ask yourself how was data collected, what was asked, what was done, are all facts presented? If not what is missing and why have some facts been emitted?
Opinions are NEVER objective. Ask yourself; who has written or said this, what is their angle, what facts have they used and what have they ignored.
Your job as a critical thinker is to evaluate evidence, decide what is, and what is not important and relevant to your essay/exam question. You should present arguments, high-lighting the strengths AND weaknesses, weigh up the information and use your intellect to offer an insight.

Nicola Graham-Kevan, U of Central Lancashire

The primary impediment to contemporary society's ability to reach consensus concerning domestic violence is that too much of what has been written about domestic violence, the studies, books, scholarly treatises, and numerous articles concerning domestic violence essentially support the particular author's previously held, particular point of view. The author's bias and ardent beliefs often distort much of what is written about domestic violence. This often presents the reading public with two fragmented and polarized conceptions of the problem. Women's advocates claim that domestic violence is a problem of epidemic proportions for women. Critics claim that this epidemic is only a "media epidemic" and that men are regularly being abused just as often as women are.

Richard Davis. Domestic Violence: Facts and Fallacies (1998) questia.com

Spot the Fallacies