[a习作temp] Argument167 薰衣草治疗失眠，另附两个问题请指点 [复制链接]

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发表于 2005-2-21 14:02:47 |只看该作者

Argument167 薰衣草治疗失眠，另附两个问题请指点

[B]167A folk remedy* for insomnia, the scent in lavender flowers, has now been proved effective. In a recent study, 30 volunteers with chronic insomnia slept each night for three weeks on lavender-scented pillows in a controlled room where their sleep was monitored. During the first week, volunteers continued to take their usual sleeping medication. They slept soundly but wakened feeling tired. During the second week, the volunteers discontinued their medication. As a result, they slept less soundly than the previous week and felt even more tired. During the third week, the volunteers slept longer and more soundly than in the previous two weeks. This shows that over a short period of time lavender cures insomnia.[/B]

The author claims from a recent study that "over a short period of time lavender cures insomnia". Lacking some necessary information, and failing to well reason the claim with the study, this argument is open to several obvious critical fallacies.

First, whether the subjects feeling tired after the third week is not provided; thus, the author cannot asserts from the extant evidence that lavender cures insomnia, if he assumes that not feeling tired is one of the signs of cure. It is completely possible that the volunteers feeling far more tired than the previous two weeks; then the result of the study may be failure. Therefore, the author should provide this indispensable information before conclude.

Second, it may be too premature to claim that "over a short period...cure insomnia" after only three weeks using lavender. Whether insomnia is cured is actually unclear, since the end of the study only showed that they “slept longer and more soundly” and no information after the third week is provided. “Longer and more soundly”, a vague concept, indicates neither a standard nor abnormal level. Perhaps the subjects are also with insomnia despite of the better sleep. Furthermore, if their sleep deteriorated as soon as they discontinue using lavender, the effect of lavender may be merely temporarily "alleviate" but not thoroughly "cure". Thus it is better for the researchers of the study to take a long-term observation on these 30 subjects to further affirm the curative effect of lavender.

In addition, even if the insomnia of volunteers was after three weeks, is it really the lavender's effect? The author has not ruled other explanations, two of which can be obviously seen from the study. First, the volunteers had already had seriously bad and tired sleep before the third week, so, from a common sense, it is entirely possible that they have better sleep in the third week. Second, the volunteers might be unfamiliar with the sleeping condition in the first two weeks so that they had bad sleep; while in the third week, more familiar with surroundings, they surely had got better sleep. Either possible explanation, if true, can cast a serious doubt on the effect of lavender. Thus the author's claim is weakened by these alternatives.

Finally, it is necessary to consider whether the subjects are representative of all the people with insomnia. Lavender probably has a significant curative effect; however, it takes this effect only on a particular group of people. From the argument, whether the representativity（“代表性”名词到底怎么说？） of the subjects is not clearly affirmed; possibility exists that lavender just can cure these volunteer's insomnia rather than others'. Lacking detailed information of these subjects, the author's claim needs to be further proved.

In conclusion, the study itself is problematic, lacking necessary information after the third week and the representaty of the subjects; and the author fails to rule out some obvious alternative explanations. Therefore, the argument is not well reasoned.