Introduction
"Be able to analyze statistics, which can be used to support or undercut almost any argument." ~ Marilyn vos Savant
"Democracy is an abuse of statistics." ~ Jorge Luis Borges
"I think all of us certainly believed the statistics which said that probably 88% chance of mission success and maybe 96% chance of survival. And we were willing to take those odds." ~ Alan Shepard
"Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive." ~ George Bernard Shaw
"There are lies, damned lies and statistics." ~ Mark Twain
"In 2007, there were three major acquisitions of “business intelligence” firms: in April, Oracle purchased Hyperion Solutions Corp. for about $3.3 billion; in October, SAP purchase Business Objects for $4.8 billion; and, in November, IBM announced its $4.9 billion purchase of Cognos. These multi-billion dollar acquisitions of firms whose sole product is number crunching is powerful evidence that data-driven decision making has market value." ~ Ian Ayers
7a Language Manipulation 1
Arguers with high investment in the outcome of the argument, such as corporations and governments, spend a great deal of time, effort, and money on crafting arguments that are compelling and legal while at the same time subtly convincing. While focused primarily on advertising, the concepts in The Language of Advertising Claims can be used in the evaluation of textual arguments, too. And, it can help you to avoid common errors of expression and be better prepared to recognize faulty arguments.
Examine any of the articles you've already found for your project to determine if they contain anyof the weasels, and if you find them, consider how they affect the quality of the argument.
Visual arguments are fun and enlightening (sometimes), and examining how an argument is portrayed visually reveals elements not always recognizable in text or audio arguments. There's a good reason for the adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
7b Language Manipulation 2
