#2 - In a study of honesty conducted in various retail

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[sarahlara]

Hello, I was between A and D and I picked D

Could I just have a little clarification to why D is incorrect please? Thank you so much!!

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Sure, Sarah.

You were right on target that the idea of intention matters. When we are evaluating the honesty of the shoppers, whose intentions matter? Let's look at the two possible ways we could answer the question in answer choice (D). Yes, the clerk was intentionally giving the shopper an extra dollar. Or no, the clerk did not mean to give the shopper an extra dollar. Even if we say yes, the clerk wanted to give the shopper an extra dollar, it's still likely dishonest to take it. Either the clerk is stealing from the company, or somehow scamming insurance, or some other reason.

Answer choice (A) focuses on the intentions and knowledge of the shopper. If the shopper doesn't know they have an extra dollar, they aren't being dishonest by taking the extra dollar. They just don't know they have the extra money. That's a different issue than one of honesty. If we answer the question in answer choice (A) as yes you get a different conclusion about the honesty of the shoppers than if you answer no. That's our goal in the evaluate questions.

Hope that helps!

[sarahlara]

Yes, it does! Thank you for your explanation!!

[g_lawyered]

Hi P.S.,
Like previous student post, I also had (A) & (D) as answer contenders. I read the previous explanation of using the Variance Test but I'm having trouble understanding how the Variance test proves that (D) is incorrect. I want to make sure I'm using the Variance Test correctly.
(D) If YES, the shopper thought that the clerk gave shopper extra $ intentionally & shopper returned the $, that wouldn't make the shopper dishonest. Shopper isn't dishonest because shopper know clerk did it on purpose so is returning it for other reasons. Doesn't this weaken the conclusion and show that the shopper wasn't dishonest?
(D) If NO, the shopper didn't think that the clerk gave shopper extra $ (meaning the shopper thought it was a mistake from the clerk) and the shopper returned the $ for this reason. The shopper returning the $ because shopper thought the clerk made a mistake means shopper is honest (not dishonest). Doesn't this also weaken the conclusion by showing that the shopper was honest (and not dishonest like the conclusion states).
Is (D) wrong because the answer to both yes & no Variance Test weakens the conclusion? Or how does the Variance Test prove (D) is incorrect?
Please help me and determine whether I'm using Variance Test correctly or not.
Thanks in advance!

[Robert Carroll]

g_lawyered,

You're neglecting to remember that in the stimulus, few returned the dollar. The author is talking about the majority of people - those who didn't return the dollar. Answer choice (D) is about the people who DID return the dollar - but that's a minority of people. The author never cared about them. The author was trying to assert something about the honesty of the remaining people, those who didn't return the dollar. Answer choice (D) is about a group of people that really don't matter at all for the author's argument.

Robert Carroll