[NTL] 第三十四次作业 argument161 by cherry

cherryjoiceUID: 2672692

:)

magiccolinUID: 2619731

TOPIC: ARGUMENT161 - In a study of reading habits of Leeville citizens conducted by the University of Leeville, most respondents said they preferred literary classics as reading material. However, a follow-up study conducted by the same researchers found that the type of book most frequently checked out of each of the public libraries in Leeville was the mystery novel. Therefore, it can be concluded that the respondents in the first study had misrepresented their reading habits.
WORDS: 487
TIME: 00:45:00
DATE: 2009/8/6 15:09:43

In this argument, the author came up with the conclusion that the participant did not present their reading habits correctly. In order to support his opinion, the different results of the two researches were cited as the evidence by the arguer. However, though seemed reasonable at the first glance, the argument based itself on several false assumptions, which weakens the conclusion of the passage.
复述

The threshold problem of the argument is that the author did not assure us of the reliability of the first study. One hand, there is no accurate data provided to show that the participants could be preventive of all the residents living in Leeville. Only if the sample is sufficient enough in size can it validate the result of the first study. On the other hand, the argument says that the replies came from "most respondents", but fails to provide the proportion of the respondents to the sample. It could be
possible that many did not take the study seriously and gave their quick respond to the investigation. As a result, without enough proof, it is impossible to draw any conclusion from the first reasearch

In addition, the arguer fails to rule out the possibility that the respondents of the first study and the people borrowing books from the public libraries are totally two groups of residents. Perhaps most of the respondents are scholars who develop a deep interest in classical literature and tend to borrow books from university libraries or buy books themselves for the purpose of collection. Or it is highly possible that the period of time between the two studies is so long that there is no guarantee about the invariability of the residents. In the exceptions mentioned above, the discrepancy of the results of the two studies is just an actual reflection of the different crowds, rather than a misinterpretation of the reading habits. Based on the comparison between two different groups of people, the author cannot conclude that the respondents conveyed wrongly about their reading habits.

Furthermore, the argument is based on a gratuitous assumption that there are always classical books available in the public libraries in Leeville. Lacking evidence to confirm the assumption, it is entirely possible that the classic literary in the libraries are too antique and too insufficient to meet the demand of the readers. Perhaps during the time when reading mystery novels prevail among the general the libraries invested most on those popular books while turned a blind eye to the introduction of classical literary, and coincidentally, the second investigation was just conducted during that time.

In conclusion, the argument overlooks multitude of possibilities that may as well lead to the different results represented in the studies. To make it more convincing, the author would have to cite more reasonable evidence to rule out other possibilities and provide a precise process of the research. Only taking the above factors into account would this argument be more thorough and adequate.

写的很好不知道怎么改…
我是编外人员

kevin0912UID: 2525323

sorry, 改晚了~