Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT103 S3 Q6 Explanation

First legislator: Medical research

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

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Stimulus

First legislator: Medical research is predominantly done on groups of patients that include only men. For example, the effects of coffee drinking on health are evaluated only for men, and studies are lacking on hormone treatments should be required to include studies of women.

Second legislator: Considerations of male/female balance such as this are inappropriate with respect to research; they in science.

What this question is testing

Weaken

Your task

Find the choice that makes the argument's conclusion less likely to be true.

Common trap

Answers that look negative but attack a claim the argument never relied on.

Winning move

Find the assumption the argument depends on, then pick the choice that undermines it.

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The question
6.

Which one of the following rejoinders, if true, most directly counters the

Answer choices

  1. No Impact11% picked this

    Government-sponsored research is supported by all taxpayers, both male

    The fact that government-sponsored research is supported by both male and female taxpayers does not directly address whether considerations of male/female balance are appropriate or necessary within scientific research itself.

  2. No Impact2% picked this

    Serving as a subject for medical research can provide a patient access to new treatments but also can

    While serving as a subject can bring both benefits and risks, this does not speak to whether male/female balance is essential for quality scientific outcomes. It doesn't counter the idea that gender balance considerations have no place in research.

  3. Opposite Impact3% picked this

    Government-sponsored medical research is often done in military hospitals or prisons that hold

    This helps someone defend the practice of having predominantly male-only research subjects: "This govt sponsored research is being done where there are only males around to test, so of course the subjects are often all male". We want to reject that approach and agitate for the inclusion of females as research subjects.

  4. No Impact2% picked this

    The training of male and female scientists does not differ according

    The fact that the training of scientists does not differ by sex does not address the question of whether male/female balance in patient subjects is critical for scientific research.

  5. Correct82% picked this

    Restriction to males of the patient base on which data are collected results

    Why this is right

    This counters the second legislator's point by arguing that excluding women results in a lack of comprehensive understanding within the research. In other words, "of course a male/female balance has a place in science. After all, when you lack that balance, it results in inadequate science."

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

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