#2 - To discover what percentage of teenagers believe in telekinesis

[landphil]

Hi. I saw #2 was not listed on this forum here, and I wanted to know more about why D is right and not C.

I chose D because it was in the "negative" ("ambiguous" and "poorly phrased questions") just like the stimulus was, whereas C was not.

Could someone help clarify why D is a better option over C?

Thanks!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi landphil!

I chose D because it was in the "negative" ("ambiguous" and "poorly phrased questions") just like the stimulus was, whereas C was not.

This sounds like a great reason to select answer choice (D) over (C). The conclusion of the argument is that the survey's responses "are ... ambiguous."

Answer choice (C) states, "Responses to surveys are always unambiguous if the survey’s questions are well phrased." This should seem suspect because it's a claim about what is unambiguous rather than ambiguous. By contrast, answer choice (D) states, "Responses people give to poorly phrased questions are likely to be ambiguous." Just based on the adjective used in these two answer responses, answer choice (D) does better at corresponding to the stimulus because it is a conclusion about what is ambiguous rather than unambiguous.

In addition, answer choice (D) more specifically describes what is going on in the stimulus. The stimulus indicates that a particular prompt for survey respondents was ambiguous or poorly phrased, and concluded that responses to this ambiguous prompt would also be ambiguous. This is abstracted in answer choice (D).

[landphil]

Hi landphil!

I chose D because it was in the "negative" ("ambiguous" and "poorly phrased questions") just like the stimulus was, whereas C was not.

This sounds like a great reason to select answer choice (D) over (C). The conclusion of the argument is that the survey's responses "are ... ambiguous."

Answer choice (C) states, "Responses to surveys are always unambiguous if the survey’s questions are well phrased." This should seem suspect because it's a claim about what is unambiguous rather than ambiguous. By contrast, answer choice (D) states, "Responses people give to poorly phrased questions are likely to be ambiguous." Just based on the adjective used in these two answer responses, answer choice (D) does better at corresponding to the stimulus because it is a conclusion about what is ambiguous rather than unambiguous.

In addition, answer choice (D) more specifically describes what is going on in the stimulus. The stimulus indicates that a particular prompt for survey respondents was ambiguous or poorly phrased, and concluded that responses to this ambiguous prompt would also be ambiguous. This is abstracted in answer choice (D).

I see, thank you!