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- Posts: 8950
- Joined: Feb 02, 2011
- Mon Jan 20, 2014 12:00 am
#35667
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
This is a bait-and-switch argument. The legislator refers to overwhelming opposition to high
taxes as support for a bill to reduce corporate income tax. There are at least two issues with this
rationale: first, constituents generally oppose taxes that they have to pay, rather than taxes borne by
corporations (although corporate taxes are paid indirectly by shareholders). Second, “high taxes”
is patently subjective and although nearly all respondents oppose high taxes, there is no evidence
to suggest that any of them think the current corporate income tax rate is high. The argument is
vulnerable to either criticism.
Answer choice (A): It is always possible to question the representativeness of a survey sample.
However, the use of a leading question (“Do you favor high taxes?”) and the extremely high
proportion responding “no” suggest that most samples might respond similarly. Furthermore, the
legislator’s use of the survey is more problematic than the sample itself.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. This is the second criticism discussed
above. Since we do not know if the constituents consider the current corporate income tax rate to be
high, we cannot confirm or refute the legislator’s claim based on the survey alone.
Answer choice (C): This is an inaccurate description of the survey’s results. The survey demonstrates
the existence of opposition to high taxes, but does not reveal anything about the constituents’ feeling
toward the bill (not even the absence of opposition to it). Rather, the argument confuses support for a
general principle with support for a specific action which may or may not apply that principle.
Answer choice (D): This is a description of a circular argument. The author clearly distinguishes
between the premises and conclusion here, and does not restate the survey evidence as the
conclusion.
Answer choice (E): As with answer choice (C), this answer is incorrect because the survey does not
reveal anything about how the public feels about this bill. The argument demonstrates support for a
general principle and infers support for a bill that has not been shown to reflect that principle.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (B)
This is a bait-and-switch argument. The legislator refers to overwhelming opposition to high
taxes as support for a bill to reduce corporate income tax. There are at least two issues with this
rationale: first, constituents generally oppose taxes that they have to pay, rather than taxes borne by
corporations (although corporate taxes are paid indirectly by shareholders). Second, “high taxes”
is patently subjective and although nearly all respondents oppose high taxes, there is no evidence
to suggest that any of them think the current corporate income tax rate is high. The argument is
vulnerable to either criticism.
Answer choice (A): It is always possible to question the representativeness of a survey sample.
However, the use of a leading question (“Do you favor high taxes?”) and the extremely high
proportion responding “no” suggest that most samples might respond similarly. Furthermore, the
legislator’s use of the survey is more problematic than the sample itself.
Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. This is the second criticism discussed
above. Since we do not know if the constituents consider the current corporate income tax rate to be
high, we cannot confirm or refute the legislator’s claim based on the survey alone.
Answer choice (C): This is an inaccurate description of the survey’s results. The survey demonstrates
the existence of opposition to high taxes, but does not reveal anything about the constituents’ feeling
toward the bill (not even the absence of opposition to it). Rather, the argument confuses support for a
general principle with support for a specific action which may or may not apply that principle.
Answer choice (D): This is a description of a circular argument. The author clearly distinguishes
between the premises and conclusion here, and does not restate the survey evidence as the
conclusion.
Answer choice (E): As with answer choice (C), this answer is incorrect because the survey does not
reveal anything about how the public feels about this bill. The argument demonstrates support for a
general principle and infers support for a bill that has not been shown to reflect that principle.