#7 - Workers may complain about many things at work, but

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Weaken. The correct answer choice is (B)

The conclusion in this answer choice is manifest with the common indicator word, "thus." The conclusion is that we shouldn't believe that stress is the most serious problem for corporate workers. This conclusion is based on the premise that a survey reflected boredom as the most commonly listed problem. Since this is a weaken question, we will seek another explanation for the survey results, or perhaps a reason to doubt the survey, or some evidence that supports the idea that stress is indeed a serious problem.

Answer choice (A): This answer choice supports the argument that boredom might be a more serious problem, so this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. If boredom and stress are somehow linked, then the fact that boredom showed up so commonly on the surveys might actually reinforce the idea that stress could be a major problem.

Answer choice (C): The presence of a bias toward the more recent episodes of boredom doesn't weaken the argument in the stimulus, so this answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): Since the author uses the emphasis on boredom to support the conclusion, this answer choice, which concerns the non-complainers, has no effect on the strength of the argument.

Answer choice (E): This answer choice is incorrect for basically the same reason as answer choice (D); those who are secure are less likely to complain, but it is the complainers who are relevant to this inquiry.

[netherlands]

hi there PS,

I got stuck between both B and C on this question. I can se that the conclusion is that because boredom was highly cited then stress must not be a problem. But its hard to see the distinction between why B is better than C.

I can see that if there is a link between boredom and stress and boredom is highly cited then I can see how this could indicate that there is also a problem with stress.

But, with C, couldn't that be interpreted as the survey responses being distorted? Couldn't it be the case that all the workers surveyed had experienced boredom more recently than stress at their jobs ... but that stress is still an underlying and huge problem?

Also, in your explanation of answer choice C you said that "the presence of bias towards the more recent episodes of boredom don't weaken the argument"...

I guess I just didn't interpret it as " emphasizing more recent boredom experiences", I saw it as they've experienced boredom more recently, so in this particular survey they indicated that as a huge complaint. Just need help understanding.

Thanks!

[Steve Stein]

Hi Netherlands,

That's a good question. In that one, what is the author's conclusion? The assumption that stress is the most serious problem in the corporate world is unwarranted.
In other words, the author is questioning the assertion that stress is the most important corporate worker problem.

Again, the author is trying to prove that stress is not high on the list, by showing that boredom was at the top of the list in a recent survey.

The question that follows is a Weaken question, so the correct will give reason to think that maybe stress is the most serious problem.

Correct answer choice B accomplishes this, by providing that the boredom complainers may actually be experiencing stress.

Answer choice C provides one critique of surveys in general--that there is an emphasis on most recent events. Then again, if that tells us that workers felt boredom more recently than stress, that would still seem to support the author's conclusion--not weaken it.

I hope that's helpful! Please let me know--thanks!

~Steve

[netherlands]

Ok, after reading your explanation several times and then noticing where I'm getting stuck on other problems I think my mistake is choosing the "weaker" of the two answers. Although I still feel like the survey answer could be interpreted either way ( as weakening as I thought it did, or even as supporting as you did) I guess that's the point - it's not a strong answer either way - whereas the answer stating that stress is synonymous with boredom is a direct attack on the conclusion.

Does that sound about right?

Thank you!

[Steve Stein]

Thanks for your response. I think you are on the right track in looking to attack the author's conclusion. In thinking about weakening this argument, the right response should provide some retort to the author's conclusion.

Here, the author's conclusion, based on the fact that boredom was at the top of a recent survey, is that people are wrong to say that stress is the most serious worker problem.

Correct answer choice B: "Yes, but those who say they are bored may actually be quite stressed."

Incorrect answer choice C: "Yes, but those who say they are bored are saying that partly because they felt bored more recently."

The incorrect answer choice in this case does not help to show that stress may in fact be the most serious workplace problem, and it is not a very strong attack on the survey either; it would seem to make sense that more recent events would have a greater impact on ones opinions, and it's not clear that this calls the survey results into question.

I hope that's helpful! Please let me know whether this clears up this tough question--thanks!

~Steve

[lawschoolforme]

Hello,

My contenders for this one ended up being B and C (and ended up picking the wrong answer C). Why is B right and C wrong?

I ended up picking C partially because I threw this answer in the "screws up the survey" category (for example, you could be feeling bored 80% of the time and stressed 20% of the time, and so are more likely to be taking the survey during the 80% of the time, which doesn't preclude the fact that you're stressed) and partially because I didn't completely understand what B was saying.

So, er, what exactly is B saying and how does it weaken the argument?

Thanks!

-lawschoolforme

[David Boyle]

Hello,

My contenders for this one ended up being B and C (and ended up picking the wrong answer C). Why is B right and C wrong?

I ended up picking C partially because I threw this answer in the "screws up the survey" category (for example, you could be feeling bored 80% of the time and stressed 20% of the time, and so are more likely to be taking the survey during the 80% of the time, which doesn't preclude the fact that you're stressed) and partially because I didn't completely understand what B was saying.

So, er, what exactly is B saying and how does it weaken the argument?

Thanks!

-lawschoolforme

Hello,

B shows that boredom actually produces stress, more or less. C could be true, but maybe not. What if you're stressed 80% of the time instead?

David

[JennuineInc]

I also eliminated it down to B & C and ultimately I didn't chose B because I thought "exhibiting more stress-related symptoms" did not mean that stress was a serious problem. It just meant they were showing symptoms that look like stress but did not mean it made actual stress a serious problem.

I chose C because I thought just because the workers were bored when they took the survey (5 minutes) but stressed the rest of the work day (few hours). Therefore, stress was a serious problem and the conclusion is weakened.

I get the Admin's explanation but I was hoping someone could correct the way I interpreted the answers.

[David Boyle]

I also eliminated it down to B & C and ultimately I didn't chose B because I thought "exhibiting more stress-related symptoms" did not mean that stress was a serious problem. It just meant they were showing symptoms that look like stress but did not mean it made actual stress a serious problem.

I chose C because I thought just because the workers were bored when they took the survey (5 minutes) but stressed the rest of the work day (few hours). Therefore, stress was a serious problem and the conclusion is weakened.

I get the Admin's explanation but I was hoping someone could correct the way I interpreted the answers.

Hello JennuineInc,

"stress-related symptoms" means that the symptoms are related to stress, not just "looking like stress". So stress does seem to be a real problem here.
And, one can't automatically assume that the workers were bored for just a few minutes then stressed the rest of the day.

Hope this helps,
David

[adlindsey]

I also had it between B & C, but dismissed B when I got to C, because to me, it weakened the argument most for the following reason this person statedd:

I also eliminated it down to B & C and ultimately I didn't chose B because I thought "exhibiting more stress-related symptoms" did not mean that stress was a serious problem. It just meant they were showing symptoms that look like stress but did not mean it made actual stress a serious problem.

I chose C because I thought just because the workers were bored when they took the survey (5 minutes) but stressed the rest of the work day (few hours). Therefore, stress was a serious problem and the conclusion is weakened.

I get the Admin's explanation but I was hoping someone could correct the way I interpreted the answers.

I also don't understand when we are suppose to assume and not assume these type of assumptions.