[技术思考] 有关ARGUMENT中的无背景SURVEY要不要批 [复制链接]

A recent survey of dental patients showed that people who use Smile-Bright toothpaste are most likely to have capped teeth -- artificial but natural-looking protective coverings placed by dentists on individual teeth.  Those people who had begun using Smile-Bright toothpaste early in life were more likely to have capped teeth than were people who had begun using Smile-Bright later in life.  In addition, those who reported brushing their teeth more than twice a day with Smile-Bright toothpaste were more likely to have caps on their teeth than were those who reported brushing with Smile-Bright less frequently.  Therefore, people wishing to avoid having their teeth capped should not use Smile-Bright toothpaste.

In evaluating the evidence of the survey, one must consider how the survey was conducted.  If the questions were leading or if the survey relied on self reports, the results might be unreliable -- people might just respond with the expected answer.   One must also consider how broad the survey was.  If the survey was limited to a few patients of a certain dentist, the results might be attributable to those particular individuals and that particular dentist.  Hence, the generalization drawn might not apply to most people.  In addition, even if the survey was broader, one must consider whether it was limited in certain ways.  For example, were the survey respondents old people?  Was the survey limited to a certain city or geographic region?  Factors such as these could explain the survey results and could undermine the generalizability of the survey results.