#22 - If one does not have enough information to make a well

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Must Be True—PR. The correct answer choice is (D)

This stimulus presents a fairly simple principle: if you do not have sufficient information for a well informed decision, then you should gather more information rather than deciding based on limited information.

The correct answer choice will reflect this advice.

Answer choice (A): This answer choice lacks the component of gathering additional information before making a decision, so it is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This is a somewhat tricky wrong answer choice. Unlike the stimulus, though, which advises gathering further information rather than making a decision with inadequate information, this answer choice advises making a decision based on many factors, rather than just one (which might not require the gathering of more information).

Answer choice (C): Since this answer choice has nothing to do with making a well-informed decision, it cannot possibly conform to the principle from the stimulus.

Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice. This reflects the principle from the stimulus in a very specific context: if you do have insufficient information (personal experience only) to make a well-informed decision, you should not make the decision at the time, and instead wait until you have gathered more information (the reliability history summary of many owners).

Answer choice (E): This incorrect answer choice starts out along the right lines, but goes awry in the end. The beginning, that one should not make a decision based on insufficient information, is nicely aligned with the principle in the stimulus. Unlike the stimulus, however, which advises gathering more information before making a decision, this choice suggests giving up.

[Sherry001]

Hello ;
I pre-phrased flaw in this question to be : not enough info, look for more info make better decision . But when diagraming I don't see the same negation. ( even when taking the contra positive )

Not enough info -> should not make decisions
Not continue to seek info -> dec can be made .

D) wants to buy car ->not on inadequate info
Study other models -> summarize ones experiences .

[David Boyle]

Hello ;
I pre-phrased flaw in this question to be : not enough info, look for more info make better decision . But when diagraming I don't see the same negation. ( even when taking the contra positive )

Not enough info -> should not make decisions
Not continue to seek info -> dec can be made .

D) wants to buy car ->not on inadequate info
Study other models -> summarize ones experiences .

Hello Sherry001,

In Parallel questions, there may not be an exact parallel all the time, but you just have to find the closest you can.
And D is the best answer here, since it follows the basic pattern you mention above, "not enough info, look for more info make better decision".
"wants to buy car ->not on inadequate info" means more or less the same as "Not enough info -> should not make decisions". However, " Study other models -> summarize ones experiences ." is not exactly correct, since there isn't a conditional, just a recommendation to study more. This comports with "Instead, one should continue to seek information" from the stimulus.
So even if you cannot diagram answer D and the stimulus exactly the same, they come closer than any of the other answers do.

Hope this helps,
David

[jonwg5121]

Hi,

I am still having trouble differentiating between answer choices (B) and (D) even after reading the hw explanation. Why does it matter that answer choice (B) advises making a decision based on many factors, rather than just one. Thank you.

[Clay Cooper]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your question, it is a good one.

Answer choice B is incorrect because the principle in the stimulus never tells us that we should make a decision; it dictates instead only that when we don't have enough information to make a decision, we should not make one. In that case (it further demands) we should also seek new information. Therefore any answer choice (such as B) which advocates making a decision can never follow the principle, which does not at any point tell us to make a decision.

Answer choice D, by contrast, is correct, because it recommends that we should not make a decision (choice of car) based on the inadequate information we have, but instead, demands only that we seek new information. Each of these two actions are specificially prescribed by the principle in the stimulus.

I try to keep in mind on principle questions what specific actions a principle prescribes (in this case, declining to make a decision and seeking new information), and that helps me quickly eliminate answer choices like B that misapply the principle to suggest actions that haven't actually been mentioned in it.

[Blueballoon5%]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your question, it is a good one.

Answer choice B is incorrect because the principle in the stimulus never tells us that we should make a decision; it dictates instead only that when we don't have enough information to make a decision, we should not make one. In that case (it further demands) we should also seek new information. Therefore any answer choice (such as B) which advocates making a decision can never follow the principle, which does not at any point tell us to make a decision.

Answer choice D, by contrast, is correct, because it recommends that we should not make a decision (choice of car) based on the inadequate information we have, but instead, demands only that we seek new information. Each of these two actions are specificially prescribed by the principle in the stimulus.

I try to keep in mind on principle questions what specific actions a principle prescribes (in this case, declining to make a decision and seeking new information), and that helps me quickly eliminate answer choices like B that misapply the principle to suggest actions that haven't actually been mentioned in it.

Hello! You wrote that, "Answer choice B is incorrect because the principle in the stimulus never tells us that we should make a decision." However, doesn't the last sentence in the stimulus tell us when a decision can be made? The last sentence reads, "Instead, one should continue to seek information until a well-informed decision can be made."

[Claire Horan]

Hi Blueballoon,

Clay's post emphasized that the stimulus is about refraining from making a decision until one has enough information, so you want to look for an answer choice where the person is waiting and gathering more information, exactly what is happening in D. Answer choice B advocates considering "carefully all of the information one (already) has." This is what the stimulus says not to do: "...one should not make a decision solely on the basis of the information one does possess." "Has" and "possess" are synonyms, so choice B is actually the opposite of the right application of the principle.

I hope this helps!