Logical reasoning PrepTest 119 · Section 3 · Question 17

Incorrect. While the argument does rely on the sample under the current system being skewed, it doesn't have to be because the professors hand out the eval forms only to the students they like. Maybe they hand them out to students who got As, or who sucked up to them.

Incorrect. The conclusion is about the evaluations accurately reflecting "student opinion," which may not be a wise and insightful view of the professor's performance. A tough grader may be a great teacher who's still hated by the students.

Incorrect. The conclusion states that the new system will accurately reflect student opinion. If the goal of the evaluation forms is to measure something else, then the traditional system might work for that goal. Since the conclusion doesn't have a should conclusion, it's very unlikely that the correct answer in a Strengthen with Necessary Premise question will be a should statement.

Incorrect. What the professors believe doesn't determine the reality of the situation.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Traditional student eval system - Done on the last day of class when many students don't show up, with professors often selectively handing out the forms
New system - Students can evaluate a professor at any time online
Conclusion - The new system will accurately reflect student opinion on teaching performance

Answer Anticipation:
The argument here compares a traditional professor evaluation system to a new system that's about to be implemented. It brings up two shortcomings of the traditional system (last day when students are out; professors picking who fills out the evals) that the new system would address.

The comparison here falls short since it doesn't discuss potential benefits of the old system, or potential downsides of the new system. However, those end up being out of scope because, while the premises are comparative, the conclusion isn't! The conclusion is that this new system will be accurate—not more accurate than the old system.

Since the conclusion isn't accurate, the comparison to the old system is much less relevant to the logic. Instead, what we need to find is that the new system will allow for accurate capture of student opinion. There are two details we know—the system lets people write up reviews at any point during the semester, and it's done online. The argument is therefore assuming that these features will lead to an accurate sample, and so we should look for any answer that establishes that.

Answer Explanation:
This answer establishes that the new system can result in a representative sample since the method by which evaluations will be submitted won't skew the group towards students who are either satisfied or dissatisfied. If dissatisfied students are more likely than satisfied students to submit a computerized evaluation, then the new system will result in a skewed sample, invalidating the conclusion.

Key Takeaway:
Sometimes, arguments feature information that seems relevant but ends up not being related to the conclusion. Here, a lot was made of the traditional system, but the conclusion spoke only of the accuracy of the new one. Since the conclusion didn't compare the two, the correct answer was likely to deal just with the new system.