Two years ago, radio station WCQP in Rockville decided to increase the number of call-in programs that it broadcast; since that time, its share of the radio audience in the Rockville listening area has increased significantly. Given WCQP’s recent success

The writer of the argument recommends that if Kick wants to get more audiences, it should produce more call-in programs; however, the writer's recommendation cannot be accepted as it is because it rests on a number of premises for the support of which some vital questions are to be answered.

The first problem with the argument is that the writer refers to a survey but does not indicate how many people took part in the survey reported. The question is whether enough people participated in this survey. As you know, in a survey the greater the number of people in the sample, the more reliable and valid the findings are. Maybe in this survey only ten people took part; hence, the findings of such a survey are neither reliable nor valid. Even if it is assumed that enough people participated in the survey, there is still another problem with the sample. In a survey, the findings can be generalized to the target population if the sample used is representative of the concerned population in terms of age, sex, social class, culture, etc.; however, one can ask whether the nationwide radio listeners were representative of Medway listeners. It follows that, the findings of this survey cannot be applied to the members of the Medway listening area without reservations.

Another problem with the argument is that the author assumes that considerable increasing in the number of WCQP audiences has happened because the number of call-in programs has increased; however, whether this increase actually happened because of more call-in programs is questionable. For example, maybe increase in the WCQP's share of radio audiences in the Rockville listening area happened because some radio station decided to stop their program; hence, some of their audiences had to choose a new station, so they selected WCQP.

A third problem with the argument is that the writer assumes that things remain the same over the years; however, whether this is true is questionable. Maybe two years ago call-in programs were favorable but now they lose their attraction because many station make numerous call-in programs.

In the final analysis, the writer's recommendation cannot taken to be correct because, as it was shown in the body paragraphs above, there are a number of questions left unanswered. The recommendation can only be accepted if the concerned questions are all addressed.