As part of a survey, approximately 10, 000 randomly selected individuals were telephoned and asked a number of questions about their income and savings. Those conducting the survey observed that the older the person being queried, the more likely it was that he or she would refuse to answer any of the questions. This finding clearly demonstrates that, in general, people are more willing when they are younger than when they are older to reveal personal financial information to strangers over the telephone. The argument above is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument ['assumes without warrant that age is the main determinant of personal income and savings levels', 'offers no evidence that the individuals queried would have responded differently had they been asked the same questions in years prior to the survey', 'provides no reason to believe that what is true of a given age group in general is also true of all individuals within that age group', 'assumes from the outset what it purports to establish on the basis of a body of statistical evidence']