Paper 4

Choose one of the following two scenarios. Answer the questions that accompany that scenario.

Scenario 1 - Should I buy his book?

Your friend comes to you rather excited. She tells you that she thinks she has finally found a solution to the migraine headaches she has been suffering from for years and can't seem to kick. Nothing has worked so far, she tells you. But your friend shares that she happened to catch an Oprah show the other day and it was all about migraines. She says, "I know, I know, Oprah, but listen." Your friend tells you that Oprah had on a doctor from the Harvard Medical Research Center who has developed a new therapy for migraine sufferers. He described the therapy in detail on the show and in his new book that was recently published. During the show, six or seven of his former patients described how they had been suffering from migraines for extended periods of time. They had all tried numerous other treatments with little success. But shortly after beginning the doctor's therapy the patients' migraines disappeared or were significantly reduced. Most had been migraine-free for over a year. Your friend tells you that the patients' stories of suffering were very similar to hers, including the specific characteristics of their migraines. So, your friend is on her way to purchase the doctor's book.

a. Identify the types of evidence presented in the above scenario for the effectiveness of the doctor's treatment for reducing migraines.
b. How valid are the types of evidence you identified for evaluating the efficacy of the therapy? Give a separate answer for each type of evidence.
c. Name one question you would want to ask of your friend, the doctor or anyone else before you drew a conclusion about the claim being made. Explain why you would ask that question.

Scenario 2 - Should I try the product?

I went to a health food store to see if they had anything that could help with my migraine headaches. The migraines were becoming worse, and the medicine my doctor prescribed was not helping much. A woman who worked at the store picked out a particular product for me that she was sure would help my migraine headaches. I asked her how she could be so sure and she told me:
· She was a migraine sufferer and the product had worked for her, plus
· at least six or seven other people she had recommended the product to had come into the store recently to tell her how well it had worked for them, plus
· it was the leading seller nationwide in health food stores among products for relieving migraine headaches, plus
· there have been some clinical trials that show that one of the main ingredients in the product can reduce stress which is thought to be related to migraines, plus
· right then, another customer came into the store and thanked her for recommending this product. The customer reported that her husband, whom the product was for, was much less irritable in the last month since using the product.

a. For each piece of evidence presented above, describe how well you think that evidence supports the claim that the product is effective at reducing migraine headaches.
b. Given your evaluation of the evidence, should I try the product? Why or why not?