Argumentation

1
Argumentation Evaluation Guide
Name Mandana Hurt Class ________________________
__ Date 1/20/09_______________________________
Topic_Effect of Diet on Autism____________________
_______ Title_Science Disputes Autisms Diet
Link____________ Source Internet_________________
_________________
What is the Claim, including any Qualifiers? Are
there qualifiers? Yes. (If yes, underline
them.) Despite parental belief that special
gluten and dairy free diet ,improves autism,
there is no scientific proof that diet improves
autism.
What Evidence is presented? In column 3, identify
the type of evidence with the letter Data (D),
Fact (F), Opinion (O), Theory (T). Some health
professionals, commercial websites, and parents
claim that a GFCF diet help improve symptoms of
Autism. One double blind controlled clinical
trail showed that the diet does not show a
significant difference in symptom improvement
among control and experimental groups The
scientific cause of Autism is not known DAN
recommends biochemical treatments for
Autism Research suggests up to 40 of autistic
children could benefit from dietary changes
(Quoted by Mass Generals pediatric GI
specialist). Placebo effect Parents need to
believe that their children are improving. Most
testing done by for profit labs
What chain of reasoning (warrant) connects the
evidence to the claim? In column 6, identify
type of reasoning with the letter(s) for
AUTHORITY (A), THEORY (T), or type of LOGIC
Analogy (AN), Correlation (C), Cause-Effect (CE),
Generalization (G) The one double blind
scientific study, some research, parental
testimonials defending the effectiveness of diet
on autism.
O D F F O O F F
A CE G
Evaluate the quality of the evidence as poor,
average or good. Explain your evaluation.
Evaluate the quality of the chain of reasoning as
poor, average or good. Explain your evaluation.
Average- presents both sides but not in any
substantial detail
Strength of Authority Poor only one scientific
study cited another one was referred to as
some research, but no identifiers were cited .
This was a reflective Application of Theory
N/A Type of Logic CE for parents side
Valid Poor The data addresses the claim, but no
explanation of data or the experimentation.
Objective (no bias) Average there is an attempt
to present both sides of the issue, again there
is not enough substance, a lot of denying
parents claim w/o a scientific
rebutal Controlled experiment N/A
Controlled Experiment

What are your concerns about the believability of
the claim? (your counterarguments, rebuttals or
new questions)? Science is writing off the
parental qualitative field data as the Placebo
effect without offering any scientific reasoning
and there is also not enough known about
biochemistry of autism to completely deny any
diet connection
Accept, reject, or withhold judgment about the
claim. Explain your judgment. Withhold judgment,
if multiple studies were conducted documenting
no Connection between diet and any type of
autism than I could buy their calim. autism
C Bulgren revised 10/1//2008