The following appeared in the summary of a study on headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia.
"Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, for the past several decades, food-processing companies have also been adding salicylates to foods as preservatives. This rise in the commercial use of salicylates has been found to correlate with a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by participants in our twenty-year study. Recently, food-processing companies have found that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods. With this new use for salicylates, we can expect a continued steady decline in the number of headaches suffered by the average citizen of Mentia."
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.
The summary predicts a continued decline in the number of headaches suffered by the citizens of Mentia as the use of salicylates in food is on the rise based on the following premises: 1) Salicylates belong to the “same chemical family” as aspirin 2) Food processing industries have been using salicylates as preservatives, in addition to their natural occurrence 3) A study that correlates this rise in commercial use of salicylates to decline in average number of headaches reported by the participants.
Firstly, it is assumed that chemical compounds belonging to the same “family” react the same way. Salicylates are compared with aspirin, which is used to treat headaches. No clear definition of “family” is mentioned in the summary. This leads to ambiguity since “family” could mean similarity in disparate perspectives like smell, taste, chemical composition etc. For example, water and hydrogen peroxide could be considered part of the same “family” of Hydrogen compounds; water is a life-save whereas the latter is lethal.
Going further, the summary states increased commercial use of salicylates as food preservatives. This can be attributed to the conclusion only if the people of Mentia have been using these items, which we cannot be sure of. It is quite likely that Mentians are highly orthodox and don’t venture beyond their traditional food; or the manufacturers who use salicylates in food items could be nowhere around Mentia.
Finally, inadequate data from a survey have been quoted to support the conclusion. We do not know for sure if the survey took samples from Mentia; or if the results match with patterns observed in Mentia. Hence, it is assumed that the survey is in phase with the headache statistics of Mentia. Also, we do not know the modalities of the survey. The survey could have been as blunt as asking if the patient’s frequency of headaches has reduced over time; or could have been detailed with their questions on the eating habits, food products used etc. Furthermore, it is assumed that increased consumption of salicylates could lead further decrease in headaches reported, which might not be scientifically correct since organisms tend to adapt to changing circumstances, which might nullify the effects of salicylates.
To conclude, the prediction of the summary is specious and weak. It has been based on several assumptions on the chemical properties of salicylates, it’s increased commercial usage , a using a survey about which we don’t know much and an unscientific assumption that organism might not develop resistance to salicylates.
Comments
Essay evaluation report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 2.5 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 15 15
No. of Words: 416 350
No. of Characters: 2113 1500
No. of Different Words: 200 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.516 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.079 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.922 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 155 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 122 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 92 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 65 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 27.733 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 22.007 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.6 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.343 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.52 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.104 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 8, column 186, Rule ID: COMMA_PARENTHESIS_WHITESPACE
Message: Put a space after the comma, but not before the comma
Suggestion: ,
...es, it's increased commercial usage , a using a survey about which we don&apo...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, finally, first, firstly, furthermore, hence, if, so, whereas, for example, in addition
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 24.0 19.6327345309 122% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 11.0 12.9520958084 85% => OK
Conjunction : 7.0 11.1786427146 63% => OK
Relative clauses : 12.0 13.6137724551 88% => OK
Pronoun: 22.0 28.8173652695 76% => OK
Preposition: 60.0 55.5748502994 108% => OK
Nominalization: 8.0 16.3942115768 49% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 2249.0 2260.96107784 99% => OK
No of words: 414.0 441.139720559 94% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.43236714976 5.12650576532 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.51076378781 4.56307096286 99% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.31329769959 2.78398813304 119% => OK
Unique words: 208.0 204.123752495 102% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.502415458937 0.468620217663 107% => OK
syllable_count: 718.2 705.55239521 102% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.59920159681 106% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 9.0 4.96107784431 181% => OK
Article: 5.0 8.76447105788 57% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 2.70958083832 37% => OK
Conjunction: 3.0 1.67365269461 179% => OK
Preposition: 3.0 4.22255489022 71% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 17.0 19.7664670659 86% => OK
Sentence length: 24.0 22.8473053892 105% => OK
Sentence length SD: 110.497021206 57.8364921388 191% => OK
Chars per sentence: 132.294117647 119.503703932 111% => OK
Words per sentence: 24.3529411765 23.324526521 104% => OK
Discourse Markers: 5.70588235294 5.70786347227 100% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 5.15768463074 97% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 5.25449101796 19% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 6.0 8.20758483034 73% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 4.0 6.88822355289 58% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.67664670659 150% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.248614915659 0.218282227539 114% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0835765319156 0.0743258471296 112% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0770822112581 0.0701772020484 110% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.146248983216 0.128457276422 114% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0880254669247 0.0628817314937 140% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 16.3 14.3799401198 113% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 38.66 48.3550499002 80% => OK
smog_index: 11.2 7.1628742515 156% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.8 12.197005988 113% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.51 12.5979740519 115% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.4 8.32208582834 113% => OK
difficult_words: 120.0 98.500998004 122% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 30.5 12.3882235529 246% => Linsear_write_formula is high.
gunning_fog: 11.6 11.1389221557 104% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.9071856287 101% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 75.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.5 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.