#17 - G: The group of works exhibited in this year's

[Administrator]

Complete Question Explanation

Strengthen. The correct answer choice is (B)

Answer choice (A): We are concerned with bias in exhibiting, not with how much an artist makes selling his work after the Art Show.

Answer choice (B): This is the correct answer choice. If it is cheaper to enter a photo than a sculpture or painting, then there is a bias in favor or photographers wishing to enter their work. A photographer could enter three photos for the same amount of money that a sculptor or painter could enter one.

Answer choice (C): The composition of the board alone is not enough to support allegations of bias. If anything, the composition of the board shows no bias since it is composed of equal numbers from each group and one who works in all media.

Answer choice (D): Again, we are concerned with bias in the selection for exhibition, not after-the-fact coverage in newspapers and magazines.

Answer choice (E): Knowing information about previous years tells us nothing about bias in this years exhibition.

[brooksnk]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone else thinks this is a somewhat poorly constructed question. I mention this on the basis that the question is asking about a bias - "inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair".

I probably assumed too much outside the question, but I conceived there may be many good reasons for a difference in price. It might cost more to exhibit sculptures and paintings over photographs. It also seemed too obvious of an answer - one for people to get 'sucked into'. I guess I was really expecting an answer to showcase an element of indisputable 'unfairness'.

I understand we shouldn't assume anything outside the content of the question, but why should we also assume a price difference is reflective of a bias when we really have no evidence to suggest that it is.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Brooks!

So first remember that we are always looking for the best answer choice out of those given and that with a Strengthen question, we don't necessarily need to prove the conclusion above, just help it out as much as we are able based on the answer choices in front of us.

With that in mind, let's examine answer choice (B). This is the only answer choice provided that indicates any way in which the photographers may have been treated differently in the selection process than the other artists. Even if the art show has some sort of reason for a difference in the fee for photography submissions vs. painting/sculpture submissions, it still creates a situation in which it is easier for photographers to submit and exhibit works than it is for painters and sculptors. The exhibition decision process is thus skewed in favor of photographers not based on their artistic merits, but rather on what it costs them to submit.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[180bound]

Hi, I am also having some difficulty with this question, I see that B implied "photographers may have been treated differently in the selection process than the other artists."

However, I thought the stimulus was not necessarily about bias in who submitted their work, but bias toward those works that would be displayed. I find choice B irrelevant because the first sentence of the stimulus states "The group of works 'exhibited' in this years competition....." ... There was clearly a bias in making it easier for photographers to submit work if B were to be true, but again the stimulus is not about submitting, its about who is displayed after everything is already submitted.

[Adam Tyson]

Actually, 180bound, the stimulus is not necessarily about a bias in what was selected for the show. It's about whether the selections made indicate that there was some bias in favor of photographers. Subtle difference, perhaps, but an important one. It's "just looking at the results allows us to determine that there has been some bias." If it is true that photographers were charged only 1/3 what others were charged to submit their works, isn't that additional evidence that supports that there was some pro-photographer bias? Sure, the bias in that answer is bias in the submissions portion, rather than in the selection step, but it still adds weight to the general claim that there was a bias in favor of photographers.

Also, the lower submission fee meant that those photographers could have each submitted three photographs for every painting or sculpture that others submitted, and that could account for the greater number of photographs being exhibited even while an equal number of photographers as painters and sculptors submitted works. Photographers were given a 3 to 1 advantage! Big bias!

Doing that math for a moment, let's say there were 10 of each kind of artist - 10 photographers, 10 painters, and 10 sculptors. The painters and sculptors each submitted 1 work, so we have 10 paintings and 10 sculptures. But the photographers could have spent the same money - $75 - and each submitted 3 photographs! Now there are 30 photographs submitted, giving them a distinct advantage in the selection process.

Does any of this PROVE bias? No, but that isn't the standard here. We just want to HELP the claim that there was bias, and that imbalance in answer C does help, at least a little. That makes it a winner!

[180bound]

Thanks again! Sometimes I think too hard about things, and your explanations help!

[dsamad]

G: The group of works exhibited in this year’s Metropolitan Art Show reveals a bias....

H: How could there have been bias? All....

Which one of the following, if true, most strongly supports G’s allegation of bias?

The correct answer to this question was the following statement: The fee for entering photographs in the Metropolitan Art Show was $25 per work submitted, while the fee for each painting or sculpture submitted was $75.

I do not quite understand how does this correct answer strengthen G's conclusion. Could someone please help out?

[Paul Marsh]

Hi dsamad! This is a Strengthen question, so we're looking for an answer that will bolster any gap between the conclusion and the premises of an argument.

G's conclusion is that the collection of works exhibited reveals a bias. The premises for this conclusion are 1) that equal numbers of photographers, sculptors, and painters submitted works that met the traditional criteria, 2) more photographs were exhibited than sculptures or paintings, and 3) that each artist could only submit work in one medium. H gives us an additional premise, which is that all submitted works that met the criteria were exhibited in the show (and nothing else was exhibited in the show).

If equal numbers of photographers, sculptors, and painters submitted works that met the traditional criteria (and, as we know from H, each of those works was exhibited), then why were there more photographs exhibited? The only possibility is that there was a number of photographers who each submitted multiple works that met the traditional criteria, while there were fewer sculptors or painters who each submitted multiple works that met the criteria. Thus the missing piece of evidence for G's argument, is something saying that the show was biased in that it favored more submissions from each individual photographer than from an individual sculptor or painter. Since this is a Strengthen question, that's the evidence we want in our answer choice.

So, in our Pre-Phrase here, we are looking for an answer saying that there existed some bias in the rules of the Art Show that would have allowed an individual photographer to submit more works than a sculptor or a painter would have. For example, a good answer might be: "The Metropolitan Art Show allowed each photographer to submit up to 3 photos, while each sculptor or painter was allowed to submit up to 2 works." The correct answer is "The fee for entering photographs in the Metropolitan Art Show was $25 per work submitted, while the fee for each painting or sculpture submitted was $75." This also accomplishes what we wanted out of our Pre-Phrase. It shows that the rules were biased, in that it was more financially feasible for a photographer to submit multiple works than it would have been for a sculptor or painter.

Hope that helps!

[dsamad]

Thank you sooooo much! This is extremely helpful. Powerscore rocks!

[lawlandmem]

Hi,

I'm a bit confused as to why B strengthens the bias argument when G mentions in the stim that "equal #s of photographers, sculptors, and painters submitted works that met the traditional criteria for the show..." If the cost of entry supposedly discouraged sculptors and painters from entering, why then were there an equal number of submissions? I picked this answer but can't get past this issue, can someone explain if I'm missing something in my analysis?