ARGUMENT-The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at Dura-Sock, Inc."A recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it spends on its patented Endure manufacturing process, which ensures that our

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ARGUMENT-The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at Dura-Sock, Inc.
"A recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it spends on its patented Endure manufacturing process, which ensures that our socks are strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised our use of the Endure process, but the new study shows that despite our socks' durability, our average customer actually purchases new Dura-Socks every three months. Furthermore, our customers surveyed in our largest market, northeastern United States cities, say that they most value Dura-Socks' stylish appearance and availability in many colors. These findings suggest that we can increase our profits by discontinuing use of the Endure manufacturing process."

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

In this argument, the arguer claims that the company should stop the Endure manufacturing process to seek more profit. This conclusion is based on the premises that customers prefer the appearance of product rather than the endurance. The recommendation's logic is faulty, however, since it relies on several shaky assumptions to bridge the gap between it premises and conclusion.

According to the resent survey, the author assumes that they should care more about the socks' look rather than their endurance which is based on the purchasing frequency and preference of purchasers. There are potential flaws. First, the author fails to provide the information of the respondents whether they can be the representatives of the whole buyers or even actual wearers, and whether they are selected randomly in a large scope. Besides, the author mentions that the customers in the survey are from northeast. Can those people represent buyers from the whole country?

Secondly,several other things may also determine their choices. For example, distinct career needs divers socks to match the working suite. Usually, people work in an office will choose plain color to fit their suites while people in fashion fields will consider style and color of socks more. Gender and age, other factors may influence the choices. Females and children may prefer light colors and fancy styles while males and the older may prefer mono-color and simple patterns. Simply put, different needs call for different choices.

Thirdly, even though the average customers will buy similar kinds of socks, the arguer still can not assume customers care less about socks quality based on their purchasing frequency. As the author mentions in the survey, their customers know clearly that the socks are strong enough to last quite a long time and this may be the requisite when customers buy socks. Because,due to the common sense, people will consider the quality of product first before buying.

Moreover, the author assumes that the profit will increase followed by cutting the Endure manufacturing process. However, "Dura-Socks"-the brand is famous for its feature of endurance. If people buy Dura-Socks according to this, the move may cause the company losing its customers. Another disadvantage of this advice may be that the appearance of the product may be easily copied by their rivals. Then the company may lose their competitive superiority in the market. At that time, the company may be trapped into the financial problem let alone the possibility of making profits.

To sum up, the argument that advises to cut the endure manufacturing process is rather weak. If the author would have considered other hidden factors behind purchasing preference and proceeded a more well-rounded survey, the recommendation may seem more reasonable and practical.

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Average: 6.6 (10 votes)
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flaws:
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.8 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.271 0.35
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.047 0.07

Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 4.5 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 25 15
No. of Words: 450 350
No. of Characters: 2322 1500
No. of Different Words: 231 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.606 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.16 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.56 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 185 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 118 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 71 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 54 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 18 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 8.333 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.8 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.271 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.511 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.047 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 6 5

In this argument, the arguer claims that the company should stop the Endure manufacturing process to seek more profit. This conclusion is based on the premises that customers prefer the appearance of product rather than the endurance. The recommendation's logic is faulty, however, since it relies on several shaky assumptions to bridge the gap between it premises and conclusion.

To begin with, the validity of the survey is doubtful. Lacking information about the number of customers or wears surveyed and the number of actual respondents, and about how the survey was conducted, it is impossible to access the validity of the results. For example, if 200 customers were surveyed but only 2 of them responded and they are not even the actual wears, they will not offer exact and valuable information. Or if only leading questions were asked, such as how often will you buy a pair of sock or which kind of patterns will you choose, etc. Those are questions that have little relationship with the theme and they may lead customers to echo with limited answers. Without ruling out these interpretations, the results would be highly unconvincing.

Secondly, the author falsely assumes the company should devote their money and energy into designing new appearance of the socks rather than keeping the solid quality of the socks based on consuming preference and frequency of customers. However, the author may ignore the facts that people may select various patterns or colors of socks to match their formal suits and casual dresses, or that they are too busy to do laundry then more socks are required. None of them hints that customers will throw old pairs away after getting new ones. Therefore, good quality of the socks is still needed, if not,customers may lose their trust on them and turn to other brands. How can the company gain any money without customers buying it productions. Also, based on the common sense, the quality of productions is always the prerequisite when people buy things. So, unless the author rules out such possibilities, this argument is unwarranted.

Moreover, the author also confidently asserts that the profit will increase followed by cutting the Endure manufacturing process. "Dura-Socks"-the brand is famous for its feature of endurance and which may the very reason people tend to buy the its product. If the move causes the quality of socks being slippery, people may turn their back on them which may cost them more than mere money but also well-established reputation. Another disadvantage of this advice maybe that the appearance of the product can be easily copied by their rivals. If so, they will possibly lose their market superiority and fall in trouble of losing rather than gaining profit. Here, the author neglects the fact of competition.

To sum up, the argument that advises to cut the endure manufacturing process is rather weak. If the author would have considered other hidden factors behind purchasing preference and proceeded a more well-rounded survey, the recommendation may seem more reasonable and practical.

It is better now.

flaws:
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.652 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.274 0.35

Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 5.0 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 23 15
No. of Words: 502 350
No. of Characters: 2511 1500
No. of Different Words: 258 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.733 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.002 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.659 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 183 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 118 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 77 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 56 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 21.826 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 9.77 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.652 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.274 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.483 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.093 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/24/2012 - 14:31

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