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 s

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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 discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.

In the memo, the vice president of marketing at Dura-Sock, Inc. suggests that they should discontinue use of the Endure manufacturing process to increase their profits. At first glance, the suggestion sounds persuasive; however, the lack of specific evidence leads me to conclude that this argument is unsound on many grounds.

First of all, the author needs to provide more sound evidence to take the survey at face value and deduce that retaining Endure manufacturing process is waste of money. Since he does not clarify the number of people who answered the questions and we also cannot assume the age and type of people. Therefore, it is hard to believe this survey. Even if the result of the survey is credible, the author cannot corroborate that the process is waste of money due to the fact that their average customer purchases new socks frequently. However, it is possible that their customers bought their socks because they like the durability of socks, and in this case, we cannot regard the process is unnecessary.

Secondly, more concrete evidence is necessary to support the author’s contention that durability of their socks is not regarded as their most attractive factor based on the survey in northeastern United States cities. Since the survey was taken only in the part of United States, even though the northeastern cities are their largest market, the penchants or customers cannot be generalized as the preference of all customers. Also, it is far-fetched to say that customers do not consider the durability because they most value the appearance of their socks.

Last but not least, the author needs to supplement the argument with more information to conclude that discontinuing use of the process can increase their profits. In all likelihood, there may be a plethora of customers who choose Dura-Socks because of their durability, even though they are not express their opinion or they are not the major customers. In this case, those customers will change their socks if their durability is deteriorated, and the loss can override the saving costs by discontinuing the process. Therefore, without ruling out other possibilities, the author cannot insist discontinuing the Endure manufacturing process.

In brief, this argument is illogical in many respects. In order to bolster this argument, the author needs to offer more evidence to support his argument.

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Average: 7.3 (3 votes)
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they are not express their opinion
they do not express their opinion

argument 1 -- not OK. In GRE/GMAT, we have to accept all data or evidence are true. It is important to find out loopholes behind surveys or studies. Loopholes mean that we accept all surveys told are true, but there are some conditions applied, for example:

It works for time A (10 years ago), but it doesn't mean it works for time B (nowadays).

It works for location A (a city, community, nation), but it doesn't mean it works for location B (another city, community, nation).

It works for people A (a manager), but it doesn't mean it works for people B (a worker).

It works for event A (one event, project... ), but it doesn't mean it works for event B (another event, project...).

argument 2 -- OK.

argument 3 -- OK
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Attribute Value Ideal
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Category: Satisfactory Excellent
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