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Argument 2

In this argument, it is proposed for the city government to devote more money in annul budget to riverside recreational facilities to fulfill the recreational needs of local people. The evidence provided in the statement are, people lived nearby complaints about the quality and smell of the river and people rated water sports and their favorite ones. However, to evaluate the credibility of the argument, the following pieces of evidence are needed and relevant implications are discussed.

First, we need information about how the survey is designed in details. For example, where do people usually do water sports? According to the argument, the river’s quality is terrible and smelly. It is not likely that people will do sports in such condition.Therefore, it is possible that people do sports in private-owned swimming pool or public swimming pool. Also, who have been surveyed? Is this sample representative? If the people filling the questionnaire are mostly teenagers, it is not surprise that the rank water sports as their favorite. But if so, then the assumptions are proved unwarranted, and the use of the river is not likely to increase as expected even after the cleanup.

Second, we need maps that picture the landscape of local and surrounding areas. Is it possible that people travel a bit to nearby rivers to do water sports? Is there any wider and cleaner river around? This information is missing in the argument.Obviously, people love to travel during weekend and they also prefer cleaner water areas. Without the maps, we cannot speculate where and how people do water sports. In such instances, this argument may not hold true, and the budget spent on cleaning water is not closely linked to the increased use of local river for water sports.

Third, we also need demographics of the city that describes who lives around the river and who lives far away. Even if the survey indicates that people favor water sports, we cannot speculate who were surveyed. Are they young teenagers, adults, or elderly? Also, we lack information of who made the complaints. Apparently, we cannot assume they are the same group of people. In this case, we must obtain information of local demographics to calculate the relative living distance of different age groups. If people who love water sports live far away from the river, then the cleaned river may not attract them to take buses or subway. Hence, the budget could be wasted.

To conclude, to make good use of the budge, the city government should seek information regarding survey design, maps, and local demographics. It is the city government’s responsibility to make wise and informed decision on behalf of its citizens. (448)