PrepTest 119

Incorrect. The argument doesn't attack the legislators, and it uses a survey in an attempt to show that their conclusion is wrong, so this Attacking the Person flaw answer is incorrect.

Incorrect. The debate is over the public's opinion, so it's fine to base that on subjective judgments. The Perception vs. Reality flaw is when there's a jump between the subjective and objective.

Incorrect. The argument is about public opinion, not the actual impact of these movies, so this answer is out of scope. This answer would be in play if the argument made a recommendation towards violent movies.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Legislators - The public thinks there are a lot of morally offensive, violent movies
Survey by movie guild - Very few people think movies are overly violent
Sample - People who see more movies than average
Conclusion - The public doesn't find movies, on average, too violent

Answer Anticipation:
This argument uses the results of a survey to rebut claims by legislators. Whenever an Errors in Reasoning question features a survey, we should start by considering a Sampling flaw, and a Correlation/Causation flaw.

First, let's quickly dispatch with the Correlation/Causation flaw. There's no causality in the conclusion here, nor is it assumed, so we shouldn't look for an answer on that front.

Second, let's look at the sample. The stimulus notes that the respondents to the movie industry guild survey "see far more current movies" than the average moviegoer. So these moviegoers aren't average, and thus can't be said to be representative. In fact, if someone's going to a lot of movies, they are probably less likely than average to be offended by movies (otherwise, they'd stop going). So there is a Sampling flaw here, and we should look for an answer that says so.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects the Sampling flaw. Those who see a lot of movies are almost certainly less offended by them than average, so asking them their opinion won't necessarily reflect the general public's opinion.

Key Takeaway:
Whenever an argument is based on a survey, consider a Sampling flaw and a Correlation/Causation flaw.

Incorrect. This answer reflects a Sampling flaw, but not the one present in the argument. The issue isn't which movies were seen, but who was seeing them and giving their opinion on them. A wide-ranging sample of movies could be seen even if the individuals in the survey didn't each see a random sampling.