Justify the Conclusion

[180nce]

Hello guys,

Can you have a question stem for a Justify the Conclusion type question with an EXCEPT. In short, can you have a Justify X question?

Thanks so much and happy studies!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi 180nce,

Thanks for your question. Technically, yes - you can be asked a Justify-EXCEPT question. It would sound something like this, "Each one of the following, if true, enables the conclusion to be properly drawn, EXCEPT:" However, I actually don't recall ever seeing such a question pop up on an actual test. Why? Because a Justify-EXCEPT question would require four of the answer choices to completely justify, i.e. prove, the conclusion. It's hard enough to make one answer choice to do that, imagine having to write four of them! There is almost always a single logical gap in the argument structure of Justify stimuli, and hence only one way to fully and completely fill in that gap. Making four answer choices say essentially the same thing would be difficult, although not entirely impossible (I can see that happening with the same conditional relationship being conveyed in 4 different ways).

Hope this helps! Let me know.

Thanks!