The following appeared as part of an article in a business magazine.
"A recent study rating 300 male and female advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than six hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. On the basis of this study, we recommend that businesses hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation 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 recommendation.
The article in a business magazine correlated the sleeping behavior of 300 male and female advertising executives to the success of businesses. At first glance, higher profit and faster growth can be achieved by hiring only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night, but there are several unjustified assumptions. In order to be a cogent recommendation, several questions need to be answered.
Citing a recent study, the article make a conclusion that "businesses" hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night. However, the study examined "advertising firms." Hence, a fundamental question arises; whether the advertising firms can be a representatives of businesses. If advertising firms have a special job environments or conditions, advertising firms cannot be the representative of all businesses. Therefore, the article must further explain whether advertising companies are special compared to regular businesses or not.
Further examining the study, the article also said that the recent study was rating 300 male and female "advertising executives." Another question arises, because executives are not just a normal position. An executive is fairly high-leveled position, which task is fairly different from normal workers. Therefore, it is hard to correlate executives to workers and staffs in a business. Yet, the article does not qualify the position of jobs when making a recommendation for hiring. If the article is making a recommendation for a general hiring process, it has to answer whether the executives can be a repetitive of all positions in a firm or not. If article is making a recommendation for a specific position, it has to clarify which position was referred.
Disregarding the above two issue regarding a sample representativeness, the article still has a problem. As mentioned in the first sentence, the article related the sleeping behavior with the success of businesses, but the article does not discuss about any other factors that might have involved with the success of businesses. Is the sleeping behavior truly the only factor which leads to the success of business? It is possible that the study might have found other factors which in common in successive firms, such as an education, skills, and et cetera.
In conclusion, the recommendation has fundamental flaws because there are several discrepancies between the recommendation and the study. In order to be more cogent, the article must fill the gap between the study and the recommendation by answering the above three questions.
"A recent study rating 300 male and female advertising executives according to the average number of hours they sleep per night showed an association between the amount of sleep the executives need and the success of their firms. Of the advertising firms studied, those whose executives reported needing no more than six hours of sleep per night had higher profit margins and faster growth. On the basis of this study, we recommend that businesses hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night."
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation 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 recommendation.
The article in a business magazine correlated the sleeping behavior of 300 male and female advertising executives to the success of businesses. At first glance, higher profit and faster growth can be achieved by hiring only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night, but there are several unjustified assumptions. In order to be a cogent recommendation, several questions need to be answered.
Citing a recent study, the article make a conclusion that "businesses" hire only people who need less than six hours of sleep per night. However, the study examined "advertising firms." Hence, a fundamental question arises; whether the advertising firms can be a representatives of businesses. If advertising firms have a special job environments or conditions, advertising firms cannot be the representative of all businesses. Therefore, the article must further explain whether advertising companies are special compared to regular businesses or not.
Further examining the study, the article also said that the recent study was rating 300 male and female "advertising executives." Another question arises, because executives are not just a normal position. An executive is fairly high-leveled position, which task is fairly different from normal workers. Therefore, it is hard to correlate executives to workers and staffs in a business. Yet, the article does not qualify the position of jobs when making a recommendation for hiring. If the article is making a recommendation for a general hiring process, it has to answer whether the executives can be a repetitive of all positions in a firm or not. If article is making a recommendation for a specific position, it has to clarify which position was referred.
Disregarding the above two issue regarding a sample representativeness, the article still has a problem. As mentioned in the first sentence, the article related the sleeping behavior with the success of businesses, but the article does not discuss about any other factors that might have involved with the success of businesses. Is the sleeping behavior truly the only factor which leads to the success of business? It is possible that the study might have found other factors which in common in successive firms, such as an education, skills, and et cetera.
In conclusion, the recommendation has fundamental flaws because there are several discrepancies between the recommendation and the study. In order to be more cogent, the article must fill the gap between the study and the recommendation by answering the above three questions.
