Argument200 [OB小组]_第10次作业_牙医广告

ldongxpUID: 2311083

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: 354          TIME: 00:29:48          DATE: 2007-7-22 16:12:30

In this argument, the author recommends that dentists who want to attract patients by advertisement should take the male consumer as target and emphasize the effectiveness of the anesthetic techniques and their staff's sensitivity to nervous or suffering patients. To support this recommendation, the author cites a statistics collected from dentists indicating 3 times more men faint than women while visiting the dentist. However, the argument suffers from several critical flaws and is therefore unconvincing as it stands.

First of all, whether the statistics cited by the author is reliable is questionable. The author offers no information about the size and randomness of the sample, and it is entirely possible that the statistics are collected from two or three dentists, which is not statistically reliable. The author cannot draw a convincing recommendation based on such a statistics.

Secondly, the author unfairly assumes that the male patients faint while visiting dentists is due to weak effectiveness of anesthetic techniques and the less sensitivity of the staff. The fainting of patients may have various causes. Perhaps the patients have weak body and easily to faint. Or perhaps some patients are allergic with the drug used by the dentists. It is also possible that the patients are too nervous so that they faint. Without ruling out these and other possibilities, the author cannot make me convinced.

Finally, even assuming that the assumption above is justified, the advertisement recommended has little indication that they would attract patients. Such advertisement might not have good effect for several reasons. Perhaps there are more female patients than male patients and it is unwise to target the male consumer. Or perhaps patients do not care about the content of this advertisement and no patients are attracted to the dentist by such advertisement. The author cannot justify this assumption, without considering these scenarios.

In sum, the argument is unpersuasive as it stands. To bolster this recommendation, the author must provide clear evidence that the faint ale patients are due to the causes that he assumes. To better assess this recommendation, more information about the patients and more detail about the faintness are needed.

OB叔UID: 188695

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