"A nationwide survey reveals that a sizeable majority of men would like to see additional sports programs on television. After television station WACK increased its sports broadcasts, its share of the television audience in its viewing area almost doubled. To gain a larger audience share in our area, and thus increase company profits, KICK should also revise its broadcast schedule to include more sports coverage."
The writer of the argument, who is the manager of television station KICK, recommends that in order to gain a larger audience share in his area, KICK should also add more sports program. To support this recommendation, the manager cites a nationwide survey which shows that the majority of men are looking for additional sports programs on TV; moreover, he points out that television station WACK increased its sports broadcast, and its audience doubled in its area. However, this recommendation cannot be accepted as it is, because it rest on a number of assumption all of which can be challenged in one way or another.
The first problem with the argument is that it is not stated how many people took part in this survey. As you know, in surveys the grater the number of people in the sample, the more reliable and valid the findings are. Maybe in this study only ten people participated; hence, the findings of such a survey are neither reliable nor valid.
Even if it is assumed that enough people took part in this survey. There is still another problem with the sample. In a trustworthy survey, the finding can be generalized to the target population only if the sample used is representative of the concerned population in terms of age, sex, social class, culture, etc; however in his argument there is no evidence to show whether the sample used was representative of the target population. For instance, in this survey only men are considered although we know that most of the television audiences are women, especially housekeepers which prefer to watch other programs such as cooking programs. Maybe, this policy may result in decreasing the amount of time regarding to women, and reduces the number of women's audiences. It follows that the findings of this study cannot be applied to the member of the population without any reservation.
Another problem with the argument is that the manager assumes that the television audience in WACH doubled it increased its sports broadcasts. However, there is no evidence to definitely prove that the increase of audience happens because of added sports broadcasts. Maybe the increase of audience is due to other program, such as a popular TV serial. Perhaps at that time, Olympic Games started and people were more interested in the field of sports; therefore, it will reduce after the end of Olympic Games.
The final problem with the argument is that the writer assumes that all conditions in the WACK TV station are identical to KICK. However, there is no evidence to identify prove that this is the case. Maybe the WACK is a sports channel and it is essential for it to allot the majority of its programs to sports, but the KICK is a religious TV and its audiences count sports as an inane programs. It is entirely possible.
In the final analysis, the writer's recommendation cannot be taken to be correct because as it was shown in the body paragraphs above, it depends on a number of assumptions each of which is questionable. The recommendation can only be accepted if the weaknesses already referred to are all removed.
The writer of the argument, who is the manager of television station KICK, recommends that in order to gain a larger audience share in his area, KICK should also add more sports program. To support this recommendation, the manager cites a nationwide survey which shows that the majority of men are looking for additional sports programs on TV; moreover, he points out that television station WACK increased its sports broadcast, and its audience doubled in its area. However, this recommendation cannot be accepted as it is, because it rest on a number of assumption all of which can be challenged in one way or another.
The first problem with the argument is that it is not stated how many people took part in this survey. As you know, in surveys the grater the number of people in the sample, the more reliable and valid the findings are. Maybe in this study only ten people participated; hence, the findings of such a survey are neither reliable nor valid.
Even if it is assumed that enough people took part in this survey. There is still another problem with the sample. In a trustworthy survey, the finding can be generalized to the target population only if the sample used is representative of the concerned population in terms of age, sex, social class, culture, etc; however in his argument there is no evidence to show whether the sample used was representative of the target population. For instance, in this survey only men are considered although we know that most of the television audiences are women, especially housekeepers which prefer to watch other programs such as cooking programs. Maybe, this policy may result in decreasing the amount of time regarding to women, and reduces the number of women's audiences. It follows that the findings of this study cannot be applied to the member of the population without any reservation.
Another problem with the argument is that the manager assumes that the television audience in WACH doubled it increased its sports broadcasts. However, there is no evidence to definitely prove that the increase of audience happens because of added sports broadcasts. Maybe the increase of audience is due to other program, such as a popular TV serial. Perhaps at that time, Olympic Games started and people were more interested in the field of sports; therefore, it will reduce after the end of Olympic Games.
The final problem with the argument is that the writer assumes that all conditions in the WACK TV station are identical to KICK. However, there is no evidence to identify prove that this is the case. Maybe the WACK is a sports channel and it is essential for it to allot the majority of its programs to sports, but the KICK is a religious TV and its audiences count sports as an inane programs. It is entirely possible.
In the final analysis, the writer's recommendation cannot be taken to be correct because as it was shown in the body paragraphs above, it depends on a number of assumptions each of which is questionable. The recommendation can only be accepted if the weaknesses already referred to are all removed.
