DISCUSSION 300 WORDS
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BewareofBiasedStatementsfromCompanyWebsites.docxBeware of Biased Statements from Company Websites
Content Author: Judy Bailey, Ph.D.
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It is perfectly acceptable to use information from a company website to get information on products. However, you need to be careful that you are using ONLY objective information and are not accepting everything that company says about their products as being objective and true. Remember that while companies are careful to give accurate technical specs online and in brochures, these documents are mainly written by marketing people who want you to buy their products, hence they also offer information which may be undocumented opinion. I sometimes call this sales stuff "marketing speak". |
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Here is a sample of a paragraph written by a student who was paraphrasing from a General Motors' website. (She has agreed to let me use it as an example.) I am not pointing this out specifically about GM because every single seller of a product does this. Look at this and ask yourself what is fact and what is opinion.
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"The Chevrolet Cruze offers a unique combination of technology and efficiency. Within its classifications, this vehicle is very affordable in relation to cost and gas mileage. Miles per gallon for the Cruze are 30 city and 40 highway. The Chevy Cruze offers advanced safety technology to help you feel confident when you drive. It includes rear park assist, forward collision alert, lane keep assist, and rear vision camera. The manufacturer's suggested retail price starts at $16,975." (General Motors, 2016) |
In this version, I have put the provable facts in blue:
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"The Chevrolet Cruze offers a unique combination of technology and efficiency. Within its classifications, this vehicle is very affordable in relation to cost and gas mileage. Miles per gallon for the Cruze are 30 city and 40 highway. The Chevy Cruze offers advanced safety technology to help you feel confident when you drive. It includes rear park assist, forward collision alert, lane keep assist, and rear vision camera. The manufacturer's suggested retail price starts at $16,975." (General Motors, 2016) |
The comments about offering a "unique combination of technology and efficiency" and the vehicle being "very affordable" and the safety features making you "feel confident" are all undocumented opinion and obviously written to make you buy the vehicle! Even calling safety technology "advanced" might be something that the competition might disagree with.
The point is that when you are using information from company and retailer's websites, you need to be judicious about which "facts" you should use if you are trying to be objective.
