PHIL 347N Week 6

Case Study Assignment: Evaluating Arguments

1)  Chapter 8 Exercise 8.9 Examples 7 and 10

2)  Chapter 9 Exercise 9.9 Example 1,

3)  Chapter 10 Exercise 10.9 Example 1

For each exercise, address the following:

Identify the type of inductive argument and any features of the way the argument is constructed that you find relevant.

Explain how convincing you think the argument is.

Does it have sufficient evidence to allow you to suggest that she move forward with the idea or does the argument have knowledge gaps?

What questions need to be answered to close these gaps?

Does the argument contain any information that adds to its authority, credibility, or reliability?

Chapter 8 Exercise 8.9

7)    Among people who use multiple dietary supplements, fish oil/omega-3 supplements now top multivitamins in popularity. The conclusion is based on 6,012 responses collected in November from a sampling of subscribers to our free e-newsletter. Fish oil /omega-3 supplements were used by 74% of respondents, followed in popularity by multivitamins, which were used by 72%. -ConsumerLab.com

10)   For-profit hospices do not focus on the best interests of their patients. In one study assessing the impact of ownership status on care provided to patients, researchers found that patients receiving care from for-profit hospices received a narrower range of services than patients from non-profit hospices. The narrower range of services meant that patients with for-profit hospices were not receiving as much counseling services, medications and personal care.- Carlson, Gallo, and Bradley, “Ownership Status and Patterns of Care in Hospice”

Chapter 9 Exercise 9.9

1)    The University of Hawaii at Manoa is a lot like the University of Colorado at Denver. They are both public, coeducational universities, located in the capital city of their state, and they both have student populations of approx 20,000 students. Since 64% of the students at the U of H are of Asian or Pacific Island descent, approx the same number of students at the U of C at Denver are of Asian or Pacific Islander descent.

Chapter 10 Exercise 10.9

1)    Recently researchers compared 286 depressed workers with 193 others who were not depressed. Since only the depressed workers had such problems as fatigue, lack of motivation, and trouble managing their usual workload, researchers concluded that depression was the cause of their problems at work.- American Journal of Health Promotion