TOPIC: ARGUMENT14 - The following appeared in a memo from the owner of Green Thumb Gardening Center, a small business serving a suburban town.
"There is evidence that consumers are becoming more and more interested in growing their own vegetables. A national survey conducted last month indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of fresh vegetables available in supermarkets. And locally, the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. Thus, we at Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase our profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds we stock for gardeners this coming spring."
WORDS: 472 TIME: 00:30:00 DATE: 2009-2-16 8:46:57
In this argument, the arguer conclude that Green Thumb Gardening Center can increase profits by greatly expanding the variety of vegetable seeds stocked for gardeners this coming spring. To support this conclusion, the arguer cites a national survey conducted last month which indicated that many consumers were dissatisfied with the quality of the fresh vegetables available in the supermarket and point outs the fact that at the Village News the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out for three months in a row. The argument contains several flaws in logic.
To begin with, the arguer assumes that the national survey conducted is statistically reliable, yet the arguer provides no evidence to subtantiate this assumption. The argument even do not offer any information about the number of the consumers surveryed and which institution conduct this survey. Without these important information about the survey, I can not accept the validity of this survey.
Even I concede that the result of the survey is statistically, the arguer neverthe less unfair to assume that local consumers hold the same perspective about the vegetables in the supermarket as those from the national survey. However no evidenve is offered to subtantiate the assumption. Perhaps the local consumers are very satisfied with the vegetables available in the supermarket. Without ruling out this possibility, I can not agree with the conclusion that drawn in the argument.
Even the local consumers are dissatisfied with the quality fo the vegetable in the supermarket, the arguer still unfair to assume that they will choose to grow their own vegetables merely based on the fact that the gardening magazine Great Gardens has sold out at the Village News stand three months in a row. There is a lot of reasons that can explain the phenomenon. It is possible the Village News stand cut its stock of the magazine. Still no information was offered that this magazi
Without ruiling out this possibility, it is properly to draw this conclution from the fact.
Finally, even local people are becoming interested in growing their own vegetables, no evidence is offered to subtantiate that it will increase the profits of the company. Commen sense informs me that profit is function of cost and revene. I concede there may be a rise in the revene, but no information about the cost is provided. It is hastily to conclude that the owners recommendation will increase the profits.
To sum up, the argument is not well supported as it stands. To bolster it, some concrete information about the national survery should be offered and the arguer should prove that local people are likely to grow their own vegetables. To better asses the problem, I would like to know the reason why the magazine are sold out three months in a row and some detailed cost and revene analysis about the company.