#13 - Public health will improve more quickly in the wake of

[ngreen221]

Hello PowerScore,

I was working through the questions in the QTT book and got this one wrong. I chose C instead of A. I understand why A was right, and was immediately drawn to it, but then I thought along the lines of "that's too easy, there has to be a catch." I saw C and thought that it was an alternative answer that weakened the conclusion that waiting for peer review should be abandoned. I would just like a proper explanation of the stimulus and answer choices, please.

Thank you!

[Claire Horan]

Hi ngreen221,

It sounds like sometimes you try to use a crystal ball to find the right answer! Instead, be sure to use reasoning to justify your eventual choice and your rejection of the other choices. (Pretend you are arguing with someone about the right answer and try to convince them. If you can't explain your reasoning, you might be on the wrong track.)

For the question below, you needed to identify the conclusion, then see how each answer choice impacts the conclusion.

(A) is the correct answer because it undermines the conclusion that releasing findings before peer review would improve public health more quickly.

(B) is irrelevant because we don't know if "altering lifestyles" would result in improved health or not. They may alter their lifestyles in ways that worsen their health.

(C) is incorrect because other ways to improve health do not have any bearing on whether the proposed change (getting rid of peer review) will improve health.

(D) suggests that releasing the information before peer review would be possible, but this doesn't affect the conclusion that it would improve public health more quickly than waiting for peer review.

(E) is incorrect for the same reason as D. Whether or not journals would be willing to change doesn't impact whether making the change would improve public health.

My guess is you didn't isolate the specific conclusion in the argument in order to check which answer choice attacks it.

I hope this helps!