argument200 FLY AW 小组第四十次作业

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限时成功，不过这个提纲之前看过了。。。:L


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: 492          TIME: 上午 12:30:00          DATE: 2006-7-11

In this argument, the author asserts that dentists advertising to attract patients should focus on the male consumers and highlight the efficacy of their anesthetic techniques and sensitivity of their staff to nervous or suffering patients. In order to support the suggestion, several statistics are cited in the argument, concerning the larger probability of men in suffering from distressing when in treatment. However, the evidence listed in the argument is unconvincing, thus lend little credence to the conclusion.

To begin with, the statistics collected from the dentists are unreliable. On the one hand, if the sample in the study is sufficient in size and the patients and representative of the overall group? Maybe the clinical statistics are just extracted from a particular small regional hospital, which is neither authentic nor representative at all. On the other, no evidence is provided that the amount of the male patients equals with that of the female patients. It is entirely possible that the number of men going to the hospital far exceeds that of women. If so, the data cited is unreliable at all.

Also, another logical fallacy lies in the above-mentioned fact that men are more likely to be distressed about having dental work done, compared to the performance of women in the treatment. What about the women's symptoms? Perhaps the symptoms of the female is much more serious than that of the male patients, even impedes the effectiveness of the treatments. Even assuming that the female show no obvious symptoms toward the dental work, we cannot conclude that the female are less likely to be distressed, since it is entirely possible that they do feel nervous and distressed, but hide the feeling inside.

Even assuming that statistics and evidence are convincing enough, the  causality between the men's trouble and the factors, such as the effectiveness of the dentists' anesthetic techniques and the sensitivity of their staff to nervous of suffering patients, is open to doubt. There may be other reasons that are responsible for the men's terrible performance during the treatment. For example, the environment of the ward makes the male more likely to be nervous, and the terrible scent of the medicine in the ward, also, it is entirely possible that the female's screaming from the room beside have caused their nervous feeling. Without ruling out all the mentioned possibilities, the arguer cannot convince us the cause and effect relationship between the seemingly unrelated facts.

In sum, the recommendation suggested by the arguer is unsubstantiated as it stands, for the above-mentioned logical fallacies. For better support the viewpoint, the arguer should also provide the relevant data regarding the total amounts of the separate groups both of the male and the female. Also, the expression of the women when treated with dental work should be provided, in order to make a full comparison between the two groups. Furthermore, the true reason of the men's distressing during the process of dental work should be investigated.