According to the author, an increase in the commercial use of salicylates--a chemical cousin of aspirin--is steadily correlated with a reduction in the number of headaches reported by Mentia residents. The author, then, extrapolates that increased use and availability of salicylates found in food items will reduce the incidence of reported headaches further. There are several assumptions made by the author that render this argument fallacious and several key pieces of evidence lacking that would improve its viability. These assumptions, alternative explanations about the presented results, and future directions are discussed below.
First, the author makes the assumption that the residents of Mentia are actively consuming the products containing the salicylates. There is no evidence to suggest that the residents of Mentia are consuming the foods in question. Additionally, it is stated that salicylates are also available in a variety of foods naturally and can be obtained that way. Therefore, if the origin of the salicylates is not known, then a conclusion cannot be drawn about their efficacy.
Second, the author presents that salicylates are chemically similar to aspirin which is known to be an effective treatment for headaches. Assuming that the residents of Mentia are consuming the foods with salicylate preservatives, there are still biochemical mechanisms to be examined. The underlying assumption is that the aspirin used to treat headaches exhibits the same qualities of bioavailability, absorption, and metabolisis as that found in the commercially processed food preservatives. If there are differences the ways that the aspirin and the salicylates are processed by the body, then comparing their efficacy on headaches is not conducive.
Third, the author fallaciously presents self-report data about the number of headaches reported by Mentia. No data about changes in the population are given. It is important to establish that the same people who were experiencing headaches prior to these changes in the availability of salicylates are the same that are represented after the changes. Otherwise, we cannot know if the number of headaches simply decreased due to population loss such as death or moving away, or the reported effect of salicylates.
A more robust study is needed to address the efficacy of commercially available salicylates on the reduction of headaches in Mentia residents. It is unclear how many people were included in the survey methods sample and how they were selected for inclusion. If the sample size is too small, then statistical analyses would be rendered obsolete and any conclusions drawn from them would be erroneous. Next, the study should be sure to construct their analyses so that participants are paired with themselves and not utilize aggregate data. This would serve to mitigate the effects of population loss on the number of headaches. Additionally, self-report methods are subjective, by nature. The are also subject to the effects of social desirability; participants may be more reluctant, or more incapable to accurately report the number of headaches due to losses in cognitive functioning via aging, for example.
In conclusion, the study should be reconducted with a larger sample, address and consider the effects of population change, and ensure that participants serve as their own control. Additionally, further research to support the bioavailability and mechanism of action of the commercially available salicylates is needed to support the conclusions of the present study.
Essay evaluation report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 3.0 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 0 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 25 15
No. of Words: 547 350
No. of Characters: 2953 1500
No. of Different Words: 237 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.836 4.7
Average Word Length: 5.399 4.6
Word Length SD: 3.087 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 230 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 180 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 148 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 117 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 21.88 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 6.659 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.52 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.289 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.526 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.092 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 6 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 9, column 689, Rule ID: A_INFINITVE[1]
Message: Probably a wrong construction: a/the + infinitive
...port methods are subjective, by nature. The are also subject to the effects of social ...
^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 716, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
..., by nature. The are also subject to the effects of social desirability; particip...
^^
Line 12, column 124, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...nsider the effects of population change, and ensure that participants serve as th...
^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, first, if, may, second, so, still, then, therefore, third, for example, in conclusion, such as
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 40.0 19.6327345309 204% => Less to be verbs wanted.
Auxiliary verbs: 11.0 12.9520958084 85% => OK
Conjunction : 15.0 11.1786427146 134% => OK
Relative clauses : 18.0 13.6137724551 132% => OK
Pronoun: 32.0 28.8173652695 111% => OK
Preposition: 74.0 55.5748502994 133% => OK
Nominalization: 14.0 16.3942115768 85% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 3032.0 2260.96107784 134% => OK
No of words: 545.0 441.139720559 124% => OK
Chars per words: 5.56330275229 5.12650576532 109% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.83169070408 4.56307096286 106% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.19287144722 2.78398813304 115% => OK
Unique words: 247.0 204.123752495 121% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.453211009174 0.468620217663 97% => OK
syllable_count: 987.3 705.55239521 140% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.8 1.59920159681 113% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 6.0 4.96107784431 121% => OK
Article: 10.0 8.76447105788 114% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 2.70958083832 111% => OK
Conjunction: 5.0 1.67365269461 299% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 3.0 4.22255489022 71% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 25.0 19.7664670659 126% => OK
Sentence length: 21.0 22.8473053892 92% => OK
Sentence length SD: 42.8891781222 57.8364921388 74% => OK
Chars per sentence: 121.28 119.503703932 101% => OK
Words per sentence: 21.8 23.324526521 93% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.0 5.70786347227 70% => OK
Paragraphs: 6.0 5.15768463074 116% => OK
Language errors: 3.0 5.25449101796 57% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 12.0 8.20758483034 146% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 7.0 6.88822355289 102% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 6.0 4.67664670659 128% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.223335900487 0.218282227539 102% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0652455882074 0.0743258471296 88% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0543419040299 0.0701772020484 77% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.123499521177 0.128457276422 96% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.067317322406 0.0628817314937 107% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 15.7 14.3799401198 109% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 33.24 48.3550499002 69% => OK
smog_index: 11.2 7.1628742515 156% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.8 12.197005988 113% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.97 12.5979740519 119% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.08 8.32208582834 109% => OK
difficult_words: 152.0 98.500998004 154% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 12.0 12.3882235529 97% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.4 11.1389221557 93% => OK
text_standard: 12.0 11.9071856287 101% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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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.