Answer: The correct answer is Critical thinking.
Explanation: Critical thinking is defined as a process of actively analyzing, evaluating, summarizing and conceptualizing information to make logical deductions that may aid the person to achieve certain goals or motivations.
Critical thinking helps a student to elaborate and develop their own opinions about certain subjects based on the evidence he/she founds.
In this particular case, the fact that the student considers the quality of the methods and its implications in regards to what she is investigating shows that she is engaged in critical thinking.