GRE Argument Topic 47

Sample 1:

Following a three week trial involving 30 volunteers, the writer claims that lavender has been shown to cure insomnia. When dealing with short term studies that provide seemingly miraculous cures to modern ailments potential users should consider a host of supplementary information regarding the sample size, methodology, theoretical framework and side-effects of the purported treatment.

The author’s claim that lavender cures insomnia rests on the assumption that a 30 person study is representative for the population. Therefore, the first things a potential user should consider are volunteer demographics like age and gender. A demographic comparison between the study’s subjects and national population statistics would reveal whether the two groups are compatible and therefore the results of the study are applicable. If the two groups would turn out to be incompatible, then the claim that lavender cures insomnia would become less plausible, given that there would be no data linking the demographic segments that were not featured in the study to the effects of lavender. For instance, a treatment tested solely on people with ages under 40 is likely to have different effects on users above 60, especially since there are different health conditions to take into account. However, should the two groups be demographically compatible, then this evidence would serve to strengthen the credibility of lavender as a cure for insomnia, as long as the study methodology is viable. Even if the volunteer group would be reasonably balanced in terms of demographics, potential lavender users should consider the minimum viable number of subjects necessary to conduct a study of this nature, related to the standard deviation. What this means is that if the number of subjects is considered to be too low, then minor effects would get amplified, because each incidence would carry a greater statistical weight. This would mean that the study results could have been skewed by a small group of people that reacted very well to the lavender, and as such greatly influenced the statistical outcome of the result, making the claim that lavender cures insomnia less accurate. If the minimum requirement of study participants should be met, and the overall standard deviation would be low, then potential users of lavender could more safely conclude that the study results are more likely to be viable. For a greater degree of certainty, potential users would have to also examine how the study was conducted.

The writer assumes that lavender is the only explanation for the third week increase in the length and quality of sleep. In order to assess the validity of that claim, readers should consider what evidence would be necessary to exclude any other explanations. Results of drug test controls performed regularly on the volunteers would be useful in establishing whether or not the increase in sleep quality and quantity is due to the effectiveness of lavender or whether the effects are caused by other drugs such as muscle relaxants and mild traces of sedatives present medicine that is not related to sleeping pills. Should any of these drugs be detected in the subjects’ system, then the results of the study would fall under severe doubt, and the researchers would have to perform additional tests in order to be able to exclude the influence of these factors on the test results. However, if nothing would be detected following the drug tests, then the researchers’ findings would be strengthened, as the likelihood of external influences would be reduced. Additionally, in order to exclude other potential environmental interactions, control group results should be examined – for instance people that have slept without lavender for the third week. This would serve to showcase whether the soundness of sleep is due to the fact that people have adapted to the environment or if it is the effect of lavender that is producing the results. The potential lavender users should also consider how the environmental differences between the control room and the subjects’ own bedroom might affect the results of the test. If the subjects’ home environment is much noisier or brighter than the control room it can be said that their sleep improvement is due to the inducting stressors) rather than the lavender. Were the data to reveal that there are no significant changes in the sleeping environment in terms of sleep inducing factors, then the resulting increase in sleep quality would likely be due to the existing variable, namely lavender.

When proposing lavender as a cure for insomnia, the author claims the volunteers experienced an increase in sleep quality and duration. In dealing with this claim, readers should first asses the number of hours of sleep per week and per patient. Should the sleep duration during the second and third week not be significantly different, then the argument would be weakened. A 10 minute sleep difference, for instance, even if it indicates an increase in sleep duration, does not constitute a sufficient basis for claiming to have cured insomnia. An increase of upwards of an hour however, would mean that the subjects are getting significantly more sleep, making it more likely that lavender has a big impact on quality of sleep. It is also important to relate the study findings to the population with regular sleep patterns – if the data of the people that participated in the sleep study matches that of a control group constituted by people with regular sleep patterns then the study can more strongly conclude that lavender is a cure for insomnia. However, if the subjects of the study were not able to match or reach the vicinity of regular people when it comes to sleep quality, then lavender should not be considered a cure, but a treatment, since it did not eradicate the condition, but merely ameliorated it.

Overall, the study needs to present more evidence in regards to the methodology employed by the researchers in order to be able to exclude any other potentially influencing factors. To this effect, the addition of more control groups would significantly bolster the credibility of the results.

Sample 2:

Everybody wants to have sound sleep, whether it is an over-worked person or a person affected from a disease called chronic insomnia.

This argument is about the cure for the same sleeping disorder called chronic insomnia. The persons suffering from this disease find difficulty in sleeping. The basis of this argument is a study of 30 volunteers who were suffering from chronic insomnia. The results of this study show that insomnia can be cured over a period by using lavender. However, the author has not offered enough evidence to support this conclusion. He has not even considered many possibilities.

In the beginning, the author has mentioned that the usual medication of 30 volunteers allows them to sleep soundly but they feel tired when they get up. However, the author has not considered many other insomniacs who are taking medications and not feeling tired on waking up. Therefore, there is also an option of these volunteers going to their doctor and telling him about their problem of feeling tired. Their problem might be corrected by a change in their medicines.

The author has also mentioned about discontinuing the medication of the volunteers. According to him, even in the absence of any medicine, patients have responded to lavender therapy. However, he has not taken the factor of controlled room environment into consideration. The controlled room environment and the normal environment of the volunteers might yield different results when their medication is discontinued.

Moreover, this study is done in a controlled room. This factor cannot be ignored. The author has not checked the results of using lavender scent in their normal sleeping place. You cannot ignore the role of controlled environment in the sound sleep of the volunteers. The author has ignored the effect of peace provided by the controlled room along with the lavender scent. There is also possibility of there being a highway or a railway line close to the residences of the volunteers, which might be a big factor in their problem of chronic insomnia. Hence, the same study should have been done in their normal circumstances. It would have provided stronger evidence regarding the study of lavender curing insomnia.

One more thing that goes against this argument is that now a days medical science has developed largely. If, according to this study, lavender was so successful in curing insomnia, then doctors would have used lavender in their treatment of insomniac patients. However, until now, no doctor has used it in his or her medication nor does any medicine related to insomnia contain lavender.

The most important factor is that this study is done only on a small group that contains only 30 persons while there are millions of people who are suffering from the same problem. It is not feasible to think that the same results will work for all the patients suffering from chronic fatigue. Hence, the study should have been based on a larger group.

Hence, we can say that although the author’s argument might be true, he should have collected more evidence in his favor. A study of just 30 volunteers cannot be considered enough proof for use of lavender as a medicine.