Argument200 【Persistence 小组】第22次作业

iamstoicUID: 2294314

TOPIC: ARGUMENT200 - Statistics collected from dentists indicate that three times more men than women faint while visiting the dentist. This evidence suggests that men are more likely to be distressed about having dental work done than women are. Thus, dentists who advertise to attract patients should target the male consumer and emphasize both the effectiveness of their anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to nervous or suffering patients.
WORDS: 352          TIME: 0:30:00          DATE: 2007-2-21

In this argument, the author recommends that dentists should advertise to attract male patients by emphasizing both the effectiveness of the anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to patients who are nervous or suffering. To bolster this claim, the author cites the statistics collected from dentists which indicate that three times more men than women faint when they are in the dentist. In addition, the author assumes that men are more likely to be distressed than women are when it comes to having dental work done. A careful examination would reveal how groundless the conclusion is.

In the first place, the author provides no evidence that the statistics are reliable. He/she must show how the statistics were obtained. Without knowing the randomness and size of the sample patients, the author cannot make a convincing argument based on the statistics.

In the second place, even if the statistics are reliable, the author unfairly assumes that men are more likely to be distressed about experiences at the dentists' through the statistics presented above. It is entirely possible that the reason why more men than women faint is that men are more likely to be allergic, not distressed, to the anesthetic medicine than women are. Without taking into account such possibilities, the author cannot not persuade me to take his/her assumption.

In the third place, even if one accepts the assumption that men are more prone to be distressed when having dental work done, it does not necessarily indicate that what they concern about at the dentist are the anesthetic techniques and the staff's sensitivity only. It might be the case that they are interested in the dentist's skills or the expenses of the dental work. In short, the mere evidence lends scant support to the recommendation.

In the fourth place, the author fails to consider another group of consumers – female patients. It is entirely possible that the number of female consumers is much larger than the male. Thus, the advice that the dentists only target male consumer would cause the dentists lose some money.

In sum, the argument is not well-reasoned. To further evaluate the author's claim, we should need more information about the statistical reliability and the real cause of the faint suffered.


[ 本帖最后由 iamstoic 于 2007-2-21 20:37 编辑 ]