The following appeared as part of an annual report sent to stockholders by Olympic Foods, a processor of frozen foods.
"Over time, the costs of processing go down because as organizations learn how to do things better, they become more efficient. In color film processing, for example, the cost of a 3-by-5-inch print fell from 50 cents for five-day service in 1970 to 20 cents for one-day service in 1984. The same principle applies to the processing of food. And since Olympic Foods will soon celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, we can expect that our long experience will enable us to minimize costs and thus maximize profits."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
The annual report sent by the Olympic Foods to the stakeholders claims that their long experience would enable them to minimize costs and maximize profits. The report makes a connection between Olympic Foods current production costs with that of color film processing with an example, which if counted as true could benefit the processor of frozen foods.
The statement that over the time the costs of processing go down because organizations learn how to do things better and therefore become more efficient. This argument is supported by an example from a different field of producer, the color film processing stating the cost of production fell from 50 cents to 20 cents in 1970. The provided example could be true since the demand for color film might have increased exponentially resulting in its increased production and ultimately dropping its cost of production. The dropping in price could also be a result of the product eventually going out of usage with digital advancements. If this were true then the conclusion drawn by the report would not remain relevant to the claim.
The above assumption that cost of production is reduced over the time might not be valid for every field. The reduced cost of production does not mean that product is in increase demand. The assumption is valid as long as the product is in high demand in market and the company is able to produce it in abundance with low cost of production, only then they would be in a position to maximize their profits. Increase demand in color film may not equally imply that there is a increased demand of frozen foods which undermines the principle of the report.
As evidenced the report engages in two assumptions which simultaneously result in the principle stating low cost of production would maximize the profits. Both the assumptions hold validity to a certain extent, which if is not correct would then undermine the conclusion stated. For that reason the report fails to analyze the accurate factors or key points which would emphasize and validate the given conclusion. Therefore the report should have added more relevant data to support the stated conclusion.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-09-26 | sanket_chaudhary | 59 | view |
| 2018-12-04 | Naga Goutam | 34 | view |
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Comments
e-rater score report
Attribute Value Ideal
Final score: 3.5 out of 6
Category: Satisfactory Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 4 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 1 2
No. of Sentences: 15 15
No. of Words: 358 350
No. of Characters: 1770 1500
No. of Different Words: 168 200
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.35 4.7
Average Word Length: 4.944 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.626 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 123 100
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 93 80
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 63 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 46 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 23.867 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 7.089 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.533 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.359 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.565 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.112 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 5
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 292, Rule ID: IF_IS[2]
Message: Did you mean 'is'?
Suggestion: is
... film processing with an example, which if counted as true could benefit the proce...
^^
Line 3, column 1, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...nefit the processor of frozen foods. The statement that over the time the costs ...
^^^
Line 3, column 634, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “If” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
...out of usage with digital advancements. If this were true then the conclusion draw...
^^
Line 5, column 188, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...ean that product is in increase demand. The assumption is valid as long as the prod...
^^^
Line 5, column 474, Rule ID: EN_A_VS_AN
Message: Use 'an' instead of 'a' if the following word starts with a vowel sound, e.g. 'an article', 'an hour'
Suggestion: an
...ilm may not equally imply that there is a increased demand of frozen foods which ...
^
Line 7, column 1, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “As” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
...rmines the principle of the report. As evidenced the report engages in two ass...
^^
Line 7, column 218, Rule ID: IF_IS[2]
Message: Did you mean 'is'?
Suggestion: is
...old validity to a certain extent, which if is not correct would then undermine the...
^^
Line 7, column 416, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Therefore,
...size and validate the given conclusion. Therefore the report should have added more relev...
^^^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, if, may, so, then, therefore
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 19.6327345309 66% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 13.0 12.9520958084 100% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 11.1786427146 54% => More conjunction wanted.
Relative clauses : 12.0 13.6137724551 88% => OK
Pronoun: 16.0 28.8173652695 56% => OK
Preposition: 50.0 55.5748502994 90% => OK
Nominalization: 16.0 16.3942115768 98% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1801.0 2260.96107784 80% => OK
No of words: 358.0 441.139720559 81% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.03072625698 5.12650576532 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.34981470047 4.56307096286 95% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.68400872056 2.78398813304 96% => OK
Unique words: 169.0 204.123752495 83% => More unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.472067039106 0.468620217663 101% => OK
syllable_count: 549.9 705.55239521 78% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59920159681 94% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 1.0 4.96107784431 20% => OK
Article: 9.0 8.76447105788 103% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 2.70958083832 74% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.67365269461 0% => OK
Preposition: 0.0 4.22255489022 0% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 19.7664670659 76% => Need more sentences. Double check the format of sentences, make sure there is a space between two sentences, or have enough periods. And also check the lengths of sentences, maybe they are too long.
Sentence length: 23.0 22.8473053892 101% => OK
Sentence length SD: 39.5185469818 57.8364921388 68% => OK
Chars per sentence: 120.066666667 119.503703932 100% => OK
Words per sentence: 23.8666666667 23.324526521 102% => OK
Discourse Markers: 2.26666666667 5.70786347227 40% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 4.0 5.15768463074 78% => More paragraphs wanted.
Language errors: 8.0 5.25449101796 152% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 9.0 8.20758483034 110% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 6.88822355289 44% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.67664670659 64% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.27931409978 0.218282227539 128% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0971898693608 0.0743258471296 131% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.113117098898 0.0701772020484 161% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.173278458715 0.128457276422 135% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0932212484159 0.0628817314937 148% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 14.2 14.3799401198 99% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 56.59 48.3550499002 117% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 7.1628742515 43% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.1 12.197005988 91% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.19 12.5979740519 97% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.17 8.32208582834 98% => OK
difficult_words: 77.0 98.500998004 78% => More difficult words wanted.
linsear_write_formula: 13.0 12.3882235529 105% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.2 11.1389221557 101% => OK
text_standard: 13.0 11.9071856287 109% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 58.33 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.5 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.