The first -- and perhaps most crucial -- element of critical analysis is fact finding and information gathering. First, determine the creator’s purpose and intent through review and observation, then consider the media’s main parts, structure and rationale. If reviewing a written work, locate the author's thesis and consider how the author supports the thesis by assessing the arguments, logic and sources. If analyzing data, evaluate the research methods, quality of information and entity conducting the research to form educated opinions regarding the work. For example, if a pharmaceutical company presents data regarding its latest drug's ability to cure a debilitating disease, you will also need to locate independently conducted research to balance your evaluation.
After gathering data, synthesize the information by combining ideas, creating new theories, developing arguments and making predictions to establish your own evaluation. Instead of regurgitating what has already been said before, a critical analysis puts forth new ideas, balancing well-researched arguments with educated opinions and a strong thesis statement. For example, in the case of the sciences and technical writing, one approach is to study the cause and effect -- or correlation -- of information. Similarly, literary and academic writing achieve this end through making connections between author's theories, works and research.