# Critical appraisal

## How to use

Understanding evidence is a key element of leading for quality. This is because excellence in leadership and management requires evidence about what works, what is ineffective and what may do more harm than good. One of the challenges for you as a manager is to determine, from the vast array of information available, what is good evidence and what can be disregarded. This tool presents you with a checklist to help you think about the validity and applicability of the information you encounter. It is designed to help you appraise a wide range of evidence encompassing empirical research, secondary sources and theoretically driven papers.

Tip Using the Critical Appraisal Tool will also help you to think about how you yourself craft arguments and draw on evidence in your own writing.