Self-study
Merton: A study showed that people who live on very busy streets have higher rates of heart disease than average. █ ████████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ██████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ██████████ ████████
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Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
Merton points out that a study shows a correlation between living on very busy streets and heart disease. Merton hypothesizes that the higher heart disease rate of people on these streets is caused by air pollution from cars.
Ortiz responds that there might be other factors that are the cause of the higher heart disease rate among people who live on busy streets.
Describe Method of Reasoning
Ortiz responds by pointing out that there might be other explanations for the correlation observed in the study described by Merton. Merton’s explanation is that air pollution caused by cars is causing heart disease. Ortiz suggests that the real explanation might be related to other lifestyle factors.
8.
Ortiz criticizes Merton's argument by
a
raising a question █████ ███ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██████ █████
Ortiz doesn’t question the validity of the study. He doesn’t question the truth of the correlation found in the study. What he questions is Merton’s explanation for that correlation. Merton’s explanation is not part of the study.
b
contending that Merton █████ ██ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ █████████
Ortiz doesn’t point out the need to consider other effects of air pollution. He points out the need to consider other causes of heart disease.
c
claiming that Merton ██████████████ █ ███████ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████
Ortiz doesn’t claim Merton misunderstands anything about the study’s findings. Ortiz might agree that Merton perfectly understands the results of the study. What Ortiz questions is Merton’s explanation of those results. Merton’s explanation isn’t part of the study’s findings.
d
raising a counterexample ██ ███ ███████ ██████████ ████ ██████ █████
Ortiz doesn’t raise a counterexample. A counterexample would involve the existence of people who live on a busy street, but whose heart disease is not caused by air pollution. Ortiz doesn’t point out that this kind of person exists.
e
suggesting that alternative ████████████ ███ ███ ███████ ████████ ████ ██ ██ █████ ███
Ortiz, through rhetorical questions, suggests that the cause of heart disease for people on busy streets might be other lifestyle factors. To conclude that air pollution is the cause, we’d need to rule out these other explanations.