The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee."We recommend that Grove College preserve its century­old tradition of all­female education rat

A recommendation is made for keeping the college all female with the help of two surveys as evidence and prediction that it will improve the morale among students and convince alumni to keep financially supporting the college. However, there are a number of questions which arise from its premises that need to be properly answered to ensure that recommendation is indeed sound.

Firstly, there is the question of of whether the surveys that have been used in argument clearly strengthen the conclusion. It is mentioned in the argument that 80 percent of students responding to survey wanted the school to remain all female. There are no numbers underlying the percentage. It may be possible that only 100 of 1000 students in the college responded and this means only 80 students are against the co-education. This is an extremely insignificant number to make any valid conclusions. Similarly, it might be possible that 10 members of 5000 strong alumni have responded to survey. This makes more than half of 10, a insignificant number to make any strong conclusions.

Secondly, there is question of whether the prediction made of improved morale of students due to retaining old-tradition holds true. The author seems to have made a quantum leap of faith to conclude that increased morale will be caused by retaining all female system, without providing any evidence to buttress it. It may be that the morale may most likely remain constant despite the decision being either favourable or unfavourable. This weakens the conclusion and the subsequent recommendation made. There is need to conduct a survey to substantiate the claims made so the recommendation holds good.

Finally, there is question of whether alumni supporting the college is dependent on the decision made to retain the old system. There is no evidence presented regarding what is the number of alumni who actually supported in the past and the actual opinions of those who contributed previously regarding the changes proposed. This weakens the argument. Furthermore, there is question of whether financial support provided by the alumni is significant enough to be considered as a factor to influence the decisions made in the college. May the amount is already paltry and can be overcome through alternative means of raising resources through increased applications due to proposed change. There is no evidence to substantiate its importance for decision making.

In conclusion, there is need for additional information to answer the questions that arise from the argument . Without answers to them, the argument and the recommendation made rest on tenuous grounds and are highly suspect.