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- Tue May 31, 2016 5:41 pm
#25845
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning—CE, #%. The correct answer choice is (C)
The argument in stimulus contains two flaws, one based on numerical data and the other having to do with invalid causal reasoning.
The stimulus describes a medical study of all Groverhill residents. In this study 35 people reported consulting their physician last year seeking relief from severe headaches. The researchers compared this result to the physicians’ records, which indicated there were 105 consultations with Groverhill patients seeking relief from severe headaches. Based on this discrepancy in numbers, the researchers conclude that many residents who consulted physicians for severe headaches did not remember doing so.
As mentioned above, there are two flaws in this argument. The first has to do with numbers. In essence, the stimulus author compares the 35 patients to the 105 consultations, and concludes there is some error in the numbers. In doing so, the author ignores the facts that the numbers are associated with different data categories, and misses the possibility that some of the patients may have had more than one consultation.
Next, there is no support in the stimulus for the conclusion that what caused the discrepancy in numbers was the failure of the patients to remember consulting their physician, as opposed to some other cause. For example, perhaps the discrepancy is due to poor record-keeping by the physicians?
In this Flaw question, your prephrase is that the correct answer choice could describe either—or both—of these flaws.
Answer choice (A): The argument did not generalize from an unrepresentative sample, because the study included “all of the residents of Groverhill.”
Answer choice (B): While the stimulus does not expressly mention the location of the doctors, there is no indication that the argument failed to consider their location.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. This choice is correct because the conclusion appears to assume a one-to-one relationship between the number of people reporting having visited their physician and the number of consultations reported by the physicians. Doing so assumes that no patient consulted their physician more than once.
Answer choice (D): The argument does not make a claim that the residents of Groverhill have an unusually high occurrence of severe headaches.
Answer choice (E): This choice is incorrect because the argument does not state that since 35 people consulted their physician regarding severe headaches, then only 35 people in fact suffer from them.
Flaw in the Reasoning—CE, #%. The correct answer choice is (C)
The argument in stimulus contains two flaws, one based on numerical data and the other having to do with invalid causal reasoning.
The stimulus describes a medical study of all Groverhill residents. In this study 35 people reported consulting their physician last year seeking relief from severe headaches. The researchers compared this result to the physicians’ records, which indicated there were 105 consultations with Groverhill patients seeking relief from severe headaches. Based on this discrepancy in numbers, the researchers conclude that many residents who consulted physicians for severe headaches did not remember doing so.
As mentioned above, there are two flaws in this argument. The first has to do with numbers. In essence, the stimulus author compares the 35 patients to the 105 consultations, and concludes there is some error in the numbers. In doing so, the author ignores the facts that the numbers are associated with different data categories, and misses the possibility that some of the patients may have had more than one consultation.
Next, there is no support in the stimulus for the conclusion that what caused the discrepancy in numbers was the failure of the patients to remember consulting their physician, as opposed to some other cause. For example, perhaps the discrepancy is due to poor record-keeping by the physicians?
In this Flaw question, your prephrase is that the correct answer choice could describe either—or both—of these flaws.
Answer choice (A): The argument did not generalize from an unrepresentative sample, because the study included “all of the residents of Groverhill.”
Answer choice (B): While the stimulus does not expressly mention the location of the doctors, there is no indication that the argument failed to consider their location.
Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. This choice is correct because the conclusion appears to assume a one-to-one relationship between the number of people reporting having visited their physician and the number of consultations reported by the physicians. Doing so assumes that no patient consulted their physician more than once.
Answer choice (D): The argument does not make a claim that the residents of Groverhill have an unusually high occurrence of severe headaches.
Answer choice (E): This choice is incorrect because the argument does not state that since 35 people consulted their physician regarding severe headaches, then only 35 people in fact suffer from them.