Problem: Imagine that a journalist wants to write some story about successful small business owners in Memphis. She asks around for people's favorite small businesses, and interviews the owners of six different businesses, including a restaurant, a design firm, and an auto shop. She finds that all business owners had for a long time had a dream about having their own business, that they worked hard for several years to get their business off the ground, and that they love what they do. Her final story strongly implies that doing these three things could help, you, too, be a successful small business owner.
1. Which fallacy of reasoning did the journalist commit? Explain why this fallacy undermines the implication in her story.
2. Does your answer to 1) mean that the factors she has identified do not affect success as a small business owner? Why?
3. Suggest some ways that she could set about fixing this issue, either by changing the final story, or by changing the way she gathered her material for the story. Why would these strategies improve the story?