CommunicationAssignment2 - Commerical Claims

BIOL 2303 Microbiology Communication in Microbiology Assignment 2 Commercial Claims For this assignment you will find an example of a publicly available commercial product that has health or wellness claims related to microbiology and critique that claim. Your goal is to explain whether or not that claim is accurate using scientific evidence. You must address the following points: 1. Describe the health claim 2. Scientifically evaluate the claim – can you support or refute this claim? Provide scientific sources to help your position (you must provide 3 pieces of scientific literature to support your stance regarding the claim) 3. Is the way that the claim is presented by the company accurate or inaccurate? 4. Is there a way that you could re-state the claim to make it more scientifically accurate? 5. In your opinion, is this a helpful or harmful product for people to use? Complete the assignment using template below (i.e., fill in the provided table). Your assignment should be roughly a maximum of 1.5-2 pages , excluding references, 12 pt font, single-spacing is fine . Any citation style may be used, just be consistent in the style that you choose. The marking rubric is included below, please read it carefully before submitting your assignment. Examples of commercial products with claims about microbiology: Probiotics for humans Probiotics for pets Pre-biotics for humans Antimicrobial pillowcase Antimicrobial soaps Products that restore microbial “balance” Dog probiotics Hand sanitizer Dish soap Anti-bacterial toothpaste Antimicrobial socks Yeast infection oils Antimicrobial mouthwash Antibacterial wet wipes Prebiotic cat food Antimicrobial bracelets You are also welcome to choose another claim that is not on this example list . If you decide to choose your own product, be sure to talk to the instructor or a TA about the product before you continue with the assignment to confirm that it will allow you to address the questions listed above. BIOL2303_Winter2024

Communication in Microbiology – Assignment 2 Commercial product name/type: Picture (provide an image of the product – could be taken from the manufacturers website): In simple terms, describe the health or wellness claim made by the product: Scientifically – can you support or refute this claim? Outline three scientific arguments to help defend your position. You must provide at least 3 pieces of scientific literature that relate to the arguments used to support your position on the claim. For example “Hand sanitizers like product XX claim to kill 99.99% of all germs, but this claim is not accurate as XX does not kill all bacteria and was found to kill fewer than 99% in clinical trials (Brady et al. 2024).” 1. 2. 3. As presented by the manufacturer/supplier, is the original claim accurate or inaccurate? Is there a way to re-state the claim to make it more scientifically accurate? BIOL2303_Winter2024

Content Poor Needs Improvement Adequate Well Done MARK 0 0.5 0.75 1 Health or Wellness Claim is described. The health or wellness claim of the commercially available product is NOT included. No image is provided. The health claim of the commercially available product is NOT well described. There are too few or no details included in the description. Image is not provided. The health claim of the commercially available product is somewhat well described, too few OR too many details are included in the description. Irrelevant image. The health claim of the commercially available product is well described with sufficient detail in the description. A relevant image is provided. Poor Needs Improvement Adequate Well Done 0 1 2 3 Health Claim is supported or refuted and backed up scientifically. No scientific evidence is provided Claim is NOT well supported or not well refuted, includes little to no evidence, and/or is backed up by 0-1 pieces of relevant, somewhat relevant, or non-relevant scientific literature. Claim is somewhat well supported or somewhat well refuted and arguments that are backed up by 2-3 pieces of somewhat relevant scientific literature. Claim is well supported or well refuted by clear evidence that is backed up by 3 pieces of relevant scientific literature that are correctly cited in-text. Poor Needs Improvement Adequate Well Done 0 0.5 1 1.5 Is the way the claim is presented accurate or inaccurate? Question is not answered The way the claim is presented as accurate or inaccurate is not explained or backed up at all in a supporting paragraph. How the claim is either accurate or inaccurate is explained fairly well with a reasonable argument in a paragraph. How the claim is either accurate or inaccurate is well described and supported using evidence in a clear paragraph. Is there a way to re-state the claim to make it more scientifically accurate ? Question is not answered A re-statement of the claim to make it more scientifically accurate is poorly done or no good reason is given as to why it cannot be re- stated. A way to re-state the claim to make it more scientifically accurate is somewhat presented well, or a somewhat good reason is proposed as to why it cannot be re- stated. A way to re-state the claim to make it more scientifically accurate is presented well, or a good reason is proposed as to why it cannot be re- stated. Poor Needs Improvement Adequate Well Done 0 0.5 0.75 1 Opinion on whether this is a helpful or harmful product for people to use Opinion on whether the product is helpful or harmful is not included Opinion on whether the product is helpful or harmful is presented in a manner that is unclear, and/or is backed up by poor reasoning, or no evidence, or not backed up at all. Opinion on whether the product is helpful or harmful is stated, opinion is presented in a somewhat clear manner, and opinion is backed up with some evidence or reasoning. Opinion on whether the product is helpful or harmful is stated, opinion is presented in a clear and concise manner, and opinion is backed up with sound reasoning and evidence. Clear Communication Information is missing or incorrect, sentences incomplete, or unclear to the point of confusion Arguments are not communicated concisely or clearly. Many spelling and grammar errors are present. Arguments are communicated somewhat concisely and somewhat clearly. Spelling and grammar errors are limited. Arguments for or against the claim are presented clearly and concisely. Spelling and grammar are correct throughout. References Any citation style just be consistent References are not included Reference citation list is not properly/consistently formatted, or not included at the end. References are not cited in the document, OR citation list is not properly formatted, or not included. References are correctly cited in the document and a properly formatted citation list is provided. Total: _____/10 BIOL2303_Winter2024

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