- PowerScore Staff
- Posts: 8929
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:10 pm
#26506
Complete Question Explanation
Question #17: Flaw. The correct answer choice is (B).
The executive argues that the hospital should make the protection of their clients' confidentiality a top priority, because the computer experts said that data breaches represent the most significant threat faced by large institutions, such as hospitals. This is a classic Appeal to Authority flaw: just because the experts warned you about something doesn't mean you should immediately worry about it. The experts could be biased, incompetent, etc. Appeal to Authority is always a logical flaw: if you recognize it as such, this question would be relatively straightforward.
Answer choice (A) is incorrect, because the argument does not commit an error in causal reasoning.
Answer choice (B) is the correct answer choice, as it matches our prephrase above.
Answer choice (C) is incorrect, because the argument does not commit an error in causal reasoning.
Answer choice (D) is attractive, but incorrect. Notice that both the premise and the conclusion are about the same sample group - large institutions such as hospitals and universities. Therefore, there is no hasty Overgeneralization here.
Answer choice (E) is also attractive, but incorrect. There is no Error of Composition here, because the conclusion is not about all institutions: it's about a particular hospital, which is a large institution.
Question #17: Flaw. The correct answer choice is (B).
The executive argues that the hospital should make the protection of their clients' confidentiality a top priority, because the computer experts said that data breaches represent the most significant threat faced by large institutions, such as hospitals. This is a classic Appeal to Authority flaw: just because the experts warned you about something doesn't mean you should immediately worry about it. The experts could be biased, incompetent, etc. Appeal to Authority is always a logical flaw: if you recognize it as such, this question would be relatively straightforward.
Answer choice (A) is incorrect, because the argument does not commit an error in causal reasoning.
Answer choice (B) is the correct answer choice, as it matches our prephrase above.
Answer choice (C) is incorrect, because the argument does not commit an error in causal reasoning.
Answer choice (D) is attractive, but incorrect. Notice that both the premise and the conclusion are about the same sample group - large institutions such as hospitals and universities. Therefore, there is no hasty Overgeneralization here.
Answer choice (E) is also attractive, but incorrect. There is no Error of Composition here, because the conclusion is not about all institutions: it's about a particular hospital, which is a large institution.
