Logical reasoning PrepTest 107 · Section 4 · Question 19

Question prompt

In the decade from Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Facts

Valid or Flawed

NA

Question Type

Bizarro / Paradox Questions

Stimulus Summary

In the mid-80s to mid-90s, large corporations went through things that decreased job security
A survey of the same period showed that employees viewed their job security as unchanged

Answer Anticipation

With Paradox questions, we should start by clearly defining what we need to explain. Here, however, it tells us what we’re trying to explain in the stem - the surprising survey results.
So what are those results, and why are they surprising? Well, the results are that employees' perception of their job security was relatively unchanged from the mid-80s to mid-90s. Note that we put an emphasis on perception, as this means that the survey showed how they felt, not the reality of the situation. And the reality is, during that time period, large corporations went through changes that actually decreased job security. So we need to explain why the surveyed employees thought their job security was unchanged despite the reality being that job security at large corporations decreased.
There are two possible avenues to explain this.
The first is that job security for those surveyed didn’t actually go down. Maybe they worked at small corporations, not the large ones that were rocked by mergers and downsizing. Maybe the people surveyed still had jobs, and the mergers and downsizing are in the past. Anything that suggests those surveyed actually had unchanged job security will serve to explain the results.
The second is anything explaining why the surveyed group’s perception of their security would be off. Maybe management spent a lot of time convincing those who remained that they were safe.
Let’s head to the answers and eliminate any one that provides such a resolution here.

Answer choices

  1. A
    A large number of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer highlights that those surveyed didn’t work at the large corporations that saw job security decrease - instead, they worked at small corporations that didn’t face the causes of job insecurity. This explains why the surveyed workers felt secure - they were!
  2. B
    Employees who feel secure Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    The survey and results are both stated in terms of how employees feel about “their own job security,” so how they feel about the job security of others is out of scope. Hence, this answer doesn’t explain the surprising results and is therefore correct.
  3. C
    The corporate downsizing that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This is an interesting answer! However, if the downsizing had been anticipated for several years before it happened, then employees would have already felt insecure. As such, when they were surveyed in ‘84, that would have already reflected a feeling of uncertainty even if the layoffs hadn’t started yet, and so it’s not surprising that the security was low and then remained low when the expected layoffs actually happened.
  4. D
    Most of the major Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    If the downsizing happened right after the first survey and then were done with, then it makes sense that a feeling of security had returned by a decade later when the follow-up survey was done in ‘94.
  5. E
    In the mid–1990s, people Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    A general feeling of optimism would show up as feeling more optimistic about job security, even if that feeling didn’t reflect the reality of the situation. As such, people who felt somewhat secure but pessimistic (in the 80s) would have similar feelings to people who felt a bit insecure but optimistic (in the 90s), which is reflected in the survey results.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B Credited 68%
  3. C 8%
  4. D 8%
  5. E 8%

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