TOPIC: ARGUMENT76 - The following appeared as part of an article in a health and beauty magazine.
"A group of volunteers participated in a study of consumer responses to the new Luxess face cream. Every morning for a month, they washed their faces with mild soap and then applied Luxess. At the end of that month, most volunteers reported a marked improvement in the way their skin looked and felt. Thus it appears that Luxess is truly effective in improving the condition of facial skin."
WORDS: 303 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 8/18/2007 15:24:39
The author asserts that Luxess face cream is truly effective in improving the condition of facial skin. To support this assertion, the author cites a study of consumer responses to the new Luxess face cream. With careful examination, the assertion is unconvincing with several problems.
To begin with, the author cites that the sample of the study is a group of volunteers. But no information about the sample is provided. To support the assumption the author must assure the number of volunteers is suffierently large and representative of all the people. Or the study is not statistically reliable to draw any conclusion.
Another problem is the authority of the conductors of the study, the author offer no information about the conductors to justify that they are authoritatively reliable. If they are not accurate, any conclusion draw from the study is unconvincing.
Then, even the conductor is reliable and the sample of volunteers is suffierently large and representative, the volunteers use both mild soap and Luxess to wash their faces. The author cannot convince that it is Luxess that improves their face. It is entirely possible that it is the soap or the combine of soap and Luxess.
Moreover, the time length of the study is only one month, which is too short to draw any persuasive conclusion. Perhaps, it is the changes of weather and better nutrition that make it.
Finally, the author cites that "most volunteers reported", and the author does not indicate what the accurate portion of the volunteers report. This also rends the argument unconvincing.
In sum, the argument is unpersuasive. To strength it, the author must offer enough information that the sample is statistically reliable, the conductor is authorial enough, lengthen the time of the study and it the Luxess face cream that improve the condition of faces of the volunteers.