A hypothesis is a factual statement that can be tested to determine the likelihood of its truth. In other words, it is not merely someone's opinion; by testing it, you can find out if it is likely to be true or false. To evaluate an article critically, start by stating the author's claim. This will be the hypothesis you are going to test as you critically examine the article. Be aware than an author may make several claims. To simplify, the following table states only one claim for each article.

One important thing to remember when you write a hypothesis is that it should be a factual statement that is clear, specific, and provable. For example, the first hypothesis stated in the table, "Certain signs prove a house is haunted," is vague. A better, more specific hypothesis would be, "Apparitions of dead...