#23 - Company president: Our consultants report that, in

[Luke Haqq]

Hi CJ12345:!

Answer choice (A) appears to be a data attack, which does occur on the LSAT. The data being attacked is what the consultants report.

If they used the same measurement for efficiency and time management, then by definition being good at one would mean being good at the other, as Robert notes above. In other words, given their methodology in (A), what the consultants report isn't very useful in connecting time management skills and efficiency. If that's true, it weakens the recommendation that managers should take a seminar on time management in order to improve productivity.

It doesn't seem like we know how (D) would impact the conclusion. The stimulus doesn't say anything about how many managers are or are not efficient. It's possible, for example, that no managers are efficient, or some might be, or all of them could be efficient. Knowing that would seem to be necessary in order for (D) to shape the conclusion. Since that's absent from the stimulus, however, (D) seems to have no clear effect on the conclusion.

[jona_zx]

I don't see how D does not weaken the conclusion. The stimulus talks about "the most efficient", and D says that those who are already efficient (which I think is safe to assume that it includes more than just "the most efficient") will not have gains in productivity. Clearly it does not kill the conclusion, but it clearly hurts it.

[Jeff Wren]

Hi jona,

There are a few points to note regarding Answer D.

First, the answer states that "most managers who are already efficient do not need to improve their productivity" (my emphasis). This is not the same as stating that these managers are unable to improve their productivity. The first is stating that their productivity is adequate/satisfactory/not a problem, but that does not necessarily mean that it is perfect or could not be improved on at all. Since the recommendation is to make a seminar in time management available to improve productivity in the company, the fact that some managers possibly (although this is uncertain) in the company already have adequate productivity doesn't weaken the recommendation itself.

Second, because the seminar in time management is available to the managers but not actually required, the managers who are already adequately productive could simply skip the seminar while any managers who are not adequately productive could attend.