Question Stem Identification Help!!

[rjj617]

I am having a hard time identifying what the following question stems are. Please help me recognize what question stem I am looking at so I can study how to attack them. Thanks for your help in advance.

From the June 1999 Test:
Section 1
7. The clinic administrator responds to the hospital auditor by doing which one of the following?

9.The reasoning the argument is questionable because?

24. The conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is added to the premises?

Section 3

2. The argument is most vulnerable to the criticism that it?

5. Maurice's attempted refutation of Jane's argument is vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds?

7. Which one of the following most accurately describes how Tiya's response is related to Sam's argument?

8. Which one of the following can be logically inferred from the passage?

10. Ralph responds to Laura by pointing out that?

That is all. Thanks for your help!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi RJJ,

I'll answer the first three for you right now, and then can you tell me what it is about the others that is giving you trouble? For example, were you completely lost, or were you debating between two types? That may help me see if there is a pattern to what you are missing.

June 1999 LSAT, Section 1

7. The clinic administrator responds to the hospital auditor by doing which one of the following? Method of Reasoning. Note how the question asks for what the administrator is doing--that type of question typically wants to know about the reasoning being used.

9.The reasoning the argument is questionable because? Flaw in the Reasoning. Here the stem talks about the reasoning, and wants to know why it is "questionable"--that's classic Flaw language.

24. The conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is added to the premises? Justify the Conclusion. Adding an answer choice to make a conclusion logical is the entire concept of Justify the Conclusion.

Please let me know if that helps, and I look forward to your thoughts on the stems from the other section. Thanks!

[rjj617]

Dave,

Thanks for all of your help. In section 3, questions 2, 5, 10, all seem similar. With those questions I am not sure if I'm being asked to. Am I to read the argument and determine where said person went wrong? Do I bring in outside information to help solve these problems?

With question 8, is that a must be true question?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi RJJ,

Yes, #8 is a Must Be True question. "Inferred" means the same thing as must be true. Good job on identifying this!

With #2, #5, and #10, you are in the right vicinity. #2 and #5 are the same, and they are both Flaw in the Reasoning questions. #10 is quite similar, but it is a Method Reasoning question. The difference there is that #2 and #5 talk abut vulnerability to criticism, meaning there's an error in the stimulus. #10 doesn't reference an error. Keep in mind, though, that Method and Flaw questions are exactly the same except that in Flaw questions you know there is an error in the stimulus.

#7 is also a Method question.

In all Method and Flaw questions, you don't want to bring in new information. They are both First Family questions, and as such, everything you need to answer the question is already present in the stimulus. So, as you go through the answers, to choose one, you must be able to see where in the stimulus each element described occurs (this is more or less a Fact Test for Method/Flaw questions). If you have the Logical Reasoning Bible, go back to the Method chapter for a broader discussion of how these questions work, or if you have our course material, go back to the Method lesson.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[karlaurrea]

Hello Mr. Killoran,

Like RRJ, I have been having a similar issue with questions stems but particularly with questions stems like #7 and #10 that RRJ brought up, I know you said they are considered method of reasoning, but at what point would you not consider these Point at Issue questions? In section one HW they talk about all question types, Point at Issues talks about the contention between to speakers, and that what I get from seeing these type of questions. Any way of telling the real difference??

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Karla,

Please call me Dave

Let's talk about the difference between the two types because there are definitely ways to tell them apart. First, let's re-post the two questions you reference:

• 7. The clinic administrator responds to the hospital auditor by doing which one of the following?
  
  10. Ralph responds to Laura by pointing out that?

I suspect that the reason that these might appear to you to be Point at Issue (PI) questions is the presence of two separate speakers being referenced in the stem. We know that two speakers are a hallmark of PI questions, and so you can see how this would be confusing The difference lies in the action or task being referenced in the two types of stems. In PI questions, you are asked to identify the point of the disagreement. Literally, they want to know what the issue is that separates the two speakers, or that they disagree on. Thus, you need to examine what each speaker said in order to find the right answer.

Now, consider the last two points and look at the two stems above. Are they asking you to identify an issue that involves both speakers? No. Instead, they ask you to find the answer that describes what one of the speakers is doing ("responds...by doing which one..." and "responds...by pointing out"). These two stems want you to identify how one of the speakers made an argument. That is a markedly different question from asking you to identify a point of difference. Yes, there are still two speakers, but the focus of the questions is different.

What this discussion underscores is the fact that there is no single code word or indicator that automatically tells you the nature of the question. For example, "support" could be used in a Must or a Strengthen question, or "justify" could appear in a Justify or Strengthen question, and so on. Here we have the two speakers, but that is just one factor. The more important factor is what you are being asked to do--in this case it is to describe what just one of the speakers is doing, and typically a "description" type of answer is going to be a Method or Flaw question (if they also reference an error).

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[karlaurrea]

That was perfect! And yes I was definitely going by the argument of two speakers rather than focusing on what the task was asking for. I GET IT!!! THANK YOU

[Dave Killoran]

Great! I'm glad I could help!