Logical reasoning PrepTest 113 · Section 3 · Question 9

Question prompt

As part of a Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

Survey - 10,000 random people were called and asked about their finances
Observation - Younger people were more willing to answer than older people
Conclusion - People are more likely to be open about their finances when they’re younger than when they’re older

Answer Anticipation

This argument features a survey, so we should start by looking at a sampling flaw, and a correlation/causation flaw. The sample was large and random, so there’s unlikely to be a sampling flaw. And the conclusion isn’t causal, so there isn’t a correlation/causation flaw.
That conclusion, however, is comparative, so we should see if the comparison can be validly drawn.
The comparison in the conclusion is between people when they’re young vs. when they’re older. According to it, as someone ages, they get less likely to answer questions about their finances. Is that supported by the survey data?
Well, to show that someone gets less likely to answer questions about their finances as they age, you’d need to compare older people to their younger selves. That’s not what the survey did - it didn’t ask the same people over time. Instead, it asked people at one time about their finances, and compared the older group to the younger group.
That’s not the comparison in the conclusion! It’s possible that the different response rates weren’t related to age, but rather to generation. Maybe the Baby Boomers are just more private than Millennials - whether you asked the Boomers in their 20s or 70s, they wouldn’t have answered.
Since the groups being compared in the survey are different from the comparison in the conclusion, this answer is flawed.

Answer choices

  1. A
    offers no evidence that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer highlights that the conclusion is about the same individual over time, but the survey asked different individuals to draw that conclusion. The elderly respondents may have been just as private with their financial information when they were younger, thus contradicting the conclusion.
  2. B
    fails to specify the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    An approximate number is fine - it just needs to be established that the sample was large enough to likely be representative.
  3. C
    assumes without warrant that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The argument is over response rates - there’s no information provided about the actual responses on finances, just whether people responded to those questions.
  4. D
    assumes from the outset Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer describes a circular argument, but the conclusion doesn’t restate a premise, so this answer is incorrect.
  5. E
    provides no reason to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The conclusion states that what it says is “in general” true of the age groups, so the argument isn’t assuming that each individual within the age group falls into the pattern.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A Credited 63%
  2. B 1%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 5%
  5. E 27%

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Discussion

  • June2000-S2-Q9 1 reply

    Started by maonuo

  • Why not A? 1 reply

    Started by mikeheath

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