Chiropractic and the ACHPR.

Based on information and logic easily available to you at this time, evaluate the argument that chiropractic was proved to work by the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Your task is to explain the pro chiropractic "AHCPR" argument as well as you can, then explain the skeptical counter argument as well as you can, then say which argument is better, and explain why.

Here are some links to sites that claim that the AHCPR report supports chiropractic.

Medical and Chiropractic Research
Family Chiropractic
Butler Chiropractic
You can use just one of these pages, or all of them, but your analysis of each page should at least explain these three things very clearly:
             1. What does the ACHPR Study, as quoted here, say exactly?
             2. What do chiropractors say that the Study says?
             3. Do the chiropractors get the report exactly right?
Explain the pro-chiropractic ACHPR Study argument as well as you can.
             What is its conclusion?
             What are its premises? (Including suppressed premises.)
             What logical principles does it appeal to?
Add other comments as you deem appropriate.

Before you go on to the opposing site, take a moment to ask yourself whether the ACHPR study said anything at all about either subluxions or chiropractic adjustments.

Now look at Chirowatch, a critical page.
Your analysis of this page should at least explain these three things very clearly:
             1. What does the ACHP Study, as quoted here, say exactly?
                  (Remember that words in [square brackets] were not in the ACHP Study, but were added by others.)
             2. What do critics say that the ACHP Study says?
             3. Do the critics get the report exactly right?
Explain the criticism of the ACHP Study argument as well as you can.
             What is its conclusion?
             What are its premises? (Including suppressed premises.)
             What logical principles does it appeal to?
Add other comments as you deem appropriate.

Based on what you've worked out above, say whether or not the ACHP Study argument works, and explain why or why not.

Of course, once you've finished evaluating the argument, you can go on and add any comments that occur to you. Did you change your mind about anything? Can you come up with better arguments on each side of the issue? Can you figure out what questions have to be settled before we can decide this issue? Based on the arguments you've seen so far, what is your overall take on the issue at this moment? What reasons do you have for coming to this conclusion? Anything else?
 
Copyright © 2004 by Martin C. Young

---

This Site is Proudly Hosted By: