#6 One thousand people in Denmark

[hbaezh]

I got the question right but held on to B and C as contenders.

I was hesitant on B due to the language used, 'minority ' seemed to contradict the stimulus as 31% was in favor of a ban and 38% were in favor but for certain media. I read that as a MAJORITY did approve of a ban. Which is why I did not choose B.
For answer choice C the word 'most' and ' not seriously concerned' also seemed to contradict the stimulus. If the combination of 38% and 31% sum up to 69% that have some sort of positive opinion on a ban then how they NOT be SERIOUSLY concerned?

This was my thought process....

Am I correct or is there a more obvious way of realizing why B and C are wrong?

Thanks in advance!

[Jeremy Press]

Hi hbaezh,

There's a simpler reason we can get rid of answer choice B, which is its reference to setting "a bad precedent." My feelings on whether something would be a bad precedent don't just come down to whether I'm in favor of the action or not (which is all the poll asked about). Feelings on what would be a bad precedent includes my thoughts on the future consequences of such an action. In other words, I might be in favor of a ban (because of my feelings about smoking), but I also might feel that a ban would have negative precedential consequences (because of, say, its overall impact on free speech). So, in short, we just don't know from the poll results how the people of Denmark feel about the precedent a ban would set.

I tend to agree with your logic on answer choice C. I agree that, since 69% support some kind of ban on cigarette advertising (whether limited or otherwise), we have some evidence to conclude that a substantial majority of the population is seriously concerned about cigarette advertising. Although I would point out that (similar to answer choice B) the level of concern people have about cigarette advertising might not map perfectly onto their opinions about banning such advertising. In other words, people might not be all that concerned about such advertising but they might even still support a ban, because they just don't think it's a big deal and they'd prefer not to see such advertising.

I hope this helps!