The following appeared in a memorandum from the manager of WWAC radio station.
"To reverse a decline in listener numbers, our owners have decided that WWAC must change from its current rock-music format. The decline has occurred despite population growth in our listening area, but that growth has resulted mainly from people moving here after their retirement. We must make listeners of these new residents. We could switch to a music format tailored to their tastes, but a continuing decline in local sales of recorded music suggests limited interest in music. Instead we should change to a news and talk format, a form of radio that is increasingly popular in our area."
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.
A memorandum from the manager of WWAC radio station states the he has observed a decline in the number of listeners of his radio station. Therefore, he suggests a few changes and provides supporting evidence to back his claim. The evidences as well as the proposed measures can probably turn the fortunes of WWAC radio station. Although, a closer look suggests otherwise. A few unstated assumptions and premises can put the manager's position in jeopardy. These unstated assumptions will be explained in the paragraphs below.
Firstly, the manager suggests that the radio station, switch the music format to suit the taste of new residents that have recently moved into the city. But he states that the sale of recorded movie has declined. Therefore, people have limited interest for music. A claim has been made here which does not seem to be backed by relevant evidence. How can the slump in sale of recorded music be attributed to a person's limited interest in music? It can be possible that these individuals have found an alternate source for procuring recorded music, probably download it free of cost over the internet, which suggests the slump in local sale of recorded music but which contradicts the claim, that individuals have limited taste in music. Moreover, the number of local shops that were considered in the manager's claim is not mentioned. It can be possible that the decline in sales is for only a few shops while the rest of the shops have a booming sale for recorded music. This again puts into doubt, the manager's evidence.
Secondly, the manager insists on changing the radio station's broadcast format to news and talk format. The author suggests that such a format is already popular in the area. The author though, fails to consider the competition which could already be there in the market. If such a format is famous, there might be radio stations doing a good job with the news and talk format. Therefore, wading through such a competition does not guarantee an increase in listeners. Individuals could be reluctant to move away form the radio stations that already broadcast news and talk formats. Moreover, the radio station could end up loosing more customers if their customer base are critical of news and talk format.
Lastly, the manager suggests that there is a decline in their customer base even with the rise in population. It could be possible that the broadcasting standards of the radio station have fallen below par. Hence, people are moving away from WWAC radio station. If this is the case, it could be difficult for WWAC radio station to gain listeners even after the myriad changes that are suggested by the manager.
In sum, the various assumptions and possibilities listed above cast a doubt on the successful outcome of the changes, suggested by the manager. Therefore, a closer look into the above mentioned possibilities can help the manager plan for a better plan of action.
Comments
e-rater score report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 4.0 out of 6
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 28 15
No. of Words: 494 350
No. of Characters: 2388 1500
No. of Different Words: 206 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.714 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.834 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.511 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 163 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 132 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 96 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 47 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 17.643 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 8.129 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.607 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.291 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.49 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.102 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 5 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 60, Rule ID: DT_PRP[1]
Message: Possible typo. Did you mean 'the' or 'he'?
Suggestion: the; he
...he manager of WWAC radio station states the he has observed a decline in the number of...
^^^^^^
Line 3, column 569, Rule ID: IT_VBZ[1]
Message: Did you mean 'frees'?
Suggestion: frees
...ng recorded music, probably download it free of cost over the internet, which sugges...
^^^^
Line 9, column 194, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
..., a closer look into the above mentioned possibilities can help the manager plan ...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, first, firstly, hence, if, lastly, look, moreover, second, secondly, so, therefore, well, while, as well as
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 21.0 19.6327345309 107% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 13.0 12.9520958084 100% => OK
Conjunction : 9.0 11.1786427146 81% => OK
Relative clauses : 16.0 13.6137724551 118% => OK
Pronoun: 28.0 28.8173652695 97% => OK
Preposition: 58.0 55.5748502994 104% => OK
Nominalization: 15.0 16.3942115768 91% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2450.0 2260.96107784 108% => OK
No of words: 494.0 441.139720559 112% => OK
Chars per words: 4.95951417004 5.12650576532 97% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.71445763274 4.56307096286 103% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.58423941742 2.78398813304 93% => OK
Unique words: 211.0 204.123752495 103% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.427125506073 0.468620217663 91% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 764.1 705.55239521 108% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 8.0 4.96107784431 161% => OK
Article: 15.0 8.76447105788 171% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 2.70958083832 74% => OK
Conjunction: 1.0 1.67365269461 60% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 4.22255489022 24% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 28.0 19.7664670659 142% => OK
Sentence length: 17.0 22.8473053892 74% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 46.9737633022 57.8364921388 81% => OK
Chars per sentence: 87.5 119.503703932 73% => OK
Words per sentence: 17.6428571429 23.324526521 76% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.0 5.70786347227 70% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 3.0 5.25449101796 57% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 12.0 8.20758483034 146% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 8.0 6.88822355289 116% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 8.0 4.67664670659 171% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.244867676228 0.218282227539 112% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0723999393718 0.0743258471296 97% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.084452714212 0.0701772020484 120% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.142354354802 0.128457276422 111% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0816632853409 0.0628817314937 130% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 10.8 14.3799401198 75% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 62.68 48.3550499002 130% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 8.7 12.197005988 71% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.19 12.5979740519 89% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.61 8.32208582834 91% => OK
difficult_words: 98.0 98.500998004 99% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 6.5 12.3882235529 52% => Linsear_write_formula is low.
gunning_fog: 8.8 11.1389221557 79% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.9071856287 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 66.67 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.