How to critically analyse?
Every field of academic research contains Indigenous scholars or research publications that respectfully include Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Where possible you are encouraged to use these materials. The IKAT has developed a series of guiding questions to help you decide if a material is appropriate.
Explore the following pages for detailed guidance and assistance in critically analysing materials.
IKAT flowchart to critically analyse, cite and reference
IKAT flowchart to critically analyse, cite and reference
The flowchart illustrates the process a user goes through to determine if a material is appropriate to use for its Indigenous knowledge.
Starting from when the a user finds a material. The user must critically analyse the content within the material, as well the author or authors that have produced the material.
From this critical analysis the users should be able to confidently determine if a material is:
- Inappropriate to use in which case they need to go back to the beginning of the process and find another material they want to use for its Indigenous knowledge.
- Appropriate to use or Appropriate to use, but the material also could be seen as problematic.
Once the user has decided a material is appropriate to use. The user needs to know how to properly cite and reference the material based on if:
- The material was created by an Indigenous author or authors.
- The material was created by an Indigenous author or authors and the material cites Indigenous knowledge.
- The material was created by an non-Indigenous author or authors and the material cites Indigenous knowledge.