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Argument Task Feedback Needed!
[#permalink]
16 Jul 2016, 10:14
16 Jul 2016, 10:14
I'd really appreciate getting some feedback for my response to this argument task. Thank you ahead of time! 
PROMPT:
The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.
"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level."
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.
RESPONSE:
According to the argument, most of the complaints that the television station has been receiving have been from viewers with concerns regarding the coverage of weather and local news. However, the argument does not address whether these complaints have been regarding the lack of time provided for the local news and weather. In fact, it is possible that the quality of the local news and weather segment of the broadcast have decreased as more of the focus has been put on the national news. Because the argument does not address this fact, however, it is unclear as to whether or not devoting more time to weather and local news will in fact attract more viewers; if the complaints were coming from individuals that disapproved of the overall quality, then the focus should be on improving the news content rather than allotting more time for that specific segment of the program. Addressing what the complaints were specifically about would therefore help strengthen this argument. Furthermore, a selection or representation bias may be in play regarding the complaints that the broadcast station has been receiving; more individuals are likely to call to complain about something rather than call to compliment it. In other words, if 90% of the viewers enjoy the increased focus on national news, they are unlikely to call the broadcast station to address this improvement. The 10% of viewers that disapprove of the new direction, however, would be more likely to call in hopes of having changes made. Therefore, this element of the argument is fairly weak but can be improved by including the proportion of individuals that have issues with the new formatting of the news program in relation to the overall audience.
Along with including the number of viewers that have complaints regarding the news program's new format, the argument should also elaborate on why the local businesses no longer wish to advertise for the late-night news program; is it because there has been a decreased focus on the local news or is it because there has been an increase in advertising costs for the news program? Is there another late-night news program that has a higher viewership that has been attracting these advertisers as well? It is possible that the local businesses have canceled their advertising contracts with the television station for reasons besides the fact that the news program has been focusing on more national news. However, the argument fails to address this element, proving to be a significant flaw.
In order to improve on logical flaws and strengthen the argument, it would be useful to include overall viewership statistics; if the number of viewers has decreased since the new focus on national news, then this would suggest that the change in direction has had detrimental effects on the television station. However, the argument simply states that devoting more time to local news and the weather would help attract more viewers to the program without including data or statistics regarding the overall audience. To prove that making these changes will in fact help attract more viewers, the argument should provide evidence that suggests that the changes to the news program has led to a signficant drop in the number of viewers.
PROMPT:
The following is a memorandum from the business manager of a television station.
"Over the past year, our late-night news program has devoted increased time to national news and less time to weather and local news. During this time period, most of the complaints received from viewers were concerned with our station's coverage of weather and local news. In addition, local businesses that used to advertise during our late-night news program have just canceled their advertising contracts with us. Therefore, in order to attract more viewers to the program and to avoid losing any further advertising revenues, we should restore the time devoted to weather and local news to its former level."
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.
RESPONSE:
According to the argument, most of the complaints that the television station has been receiving have been from viewers with concerns regarding the coverage of weather and local news. However, the argument does not address whether these complaints have been regarding the lack of time provided for the local news and weather. In fact, it is possible that the quality of the local news and weather segment of the broadcast have decreased as more of the focus has been put on the national news. Because the argument does not address this fact, however, it is unclear as to whether or not devoting more time to weather and local news will in fact attract more viewers; if the complaints were coming from individuals that disapproved of the overall quality, then the focus should be on improving the news content rather than allotting more time for that specific segment of the program. Addressing what the complaints were specifically about would therefore help strengthen this argument. Furthermore, a selection or representation bias may be in play regarding the complaints that the broadcast station has been receiving; more individuals are likely to call to complain about something rather than call to compliment it. In other words, if 90% of the viewers enjoy the increased focus on national news, they are unlikely to call the broadcast station to address this improvement. The 10% of viewers that disapprove of the new direction, however, would be more likely to call in hopes of having changes made. Therefore, this element of the argument is fairly weak but can be improved by including the proportion of individuals that have issues with the new formatting of the news program in relation to the overall audience.
Along with including the number of viewers that have complaints regarding the news program's new format, the argument should also elaborate on why the local businesses no longer wish to advertise for the late-night news program; is it because there has been a decreased focus on the local news or is it because there has been an increase in advertising costs for the news program? Is there another late-night news program that has a higher viewership that has been attracting these advertisers as well? It is possible that the local businesses have canceled their advertising contracts with the television station for reasons besides the fact that the news program has been focusing on more national news. However, the argument fails to address this element, proving to be a significant flaw.
In order to improve on logical flaws and strengthen the argument, it would be useful to include overall viewership statistics; if the number of viewers has decreased since the new focus on national news, then this would suggest that the change in direction has had detrimental effects on the television station. However, the argument simply states that devoting more time to local news and the weather would help attract more viewers to the program without including data or statistics regarding the overall audience. To prove that making these changes will in fact help attract more viewers, the argument should provide evidence that suggests that the changes to the news program has led to a signficant drop in the number of viewers.
gmatclubot
Argument Task Feedback Needed! [#permalink]
16 Jul 2016, 10:14
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