Quote:
A recently issued twenty-year study on headaches suffered by the residents of Mentia investigated the possible therapeutic effect of consuming salicylates. Salicylates are members of the same chemical family as aspirin, a medicine used to treat headaches. Although many foods are naturally rich in salicylates, food-processing companies also add salicylates to foods as preservatives. The twenty-year study found a correlation between the rise in the commercial use of salicylates and a steady decline in the average number of headaches reported by study participants. At the time when the study concluded, food-processing companies had just discovered that salicylates can also be used as flavor additives for foods, and, as a result, many companies plan to do so. Based on these study results, some health experts predict that residents of Mentia will suffer even fewer headaches in the future.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
Argument opines that the use of salicylates by the food processing companies helps in reducing the average number of cases of headaches in the residents of Mentia. In order to evaluate the argument correctly, we need a significant amount of additional evidence. The argument could end up much weaker than it seems, or it might be actually quite valid. In order to make that determination, we need to know more then analyze what we learn.
The first piece of evidence that we would need to evaluate the author’s claims is the information about the therapeutic effect of aspirin and salicylates. Argument claims that salicylates belong to the same chemical family as aspirin. This could be the reason for their effectiveness in the treatment of headachces. However, author needs to provide much stronger evidence than making such a simple analogy to solidify its claim.
Another piece of evidence that might help us evaluate the claim is the information about the participants that were involved in the study. It is possible that these participants represents a very narrow segment of population of Mentia and therefore, results of this study are not very accurate.
In order to fully evaluate the argument, we would also need to know about the possible side effects of salicylates. Since, many companies plan to use salicylates as a flavor additive, we need to know if salicylate consumption more than a particular level have the tendency to produce adverse effects in humans or not. It is possible that the salicylate consumption more than a certain level could produce ill effects in the general population. This could cause health crisis in Mentia.
Clearly, then, we need to have additional evidence in order to get a more complete understanding of strengths and weaknesses of the argument. We need to know more about the salicylates and their possible effects in human population. We also need more information about the 20 year study before reaching to any conclusion.
Thanks for the feedback.
12 Apr 2022, 10:36 
