News item: The result of a

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct81% picked this

   the conclusion of the survey would be verified if the falsified

   Why this is right

   Would it weaken this argument to say, "If we subtracted the falsified data from the survey, the conclusion that most people favor investing more money would be verified"? Sure! If that's true, it basically refutes the author's conclusion, which says the polar opposite. If it's hard to conceptualize what this answer means, picture it this way --- had the survey only used real data, the result would have shown that 60% of people favor more investment. When the pollster added in his fake data, it now shows that 80% of people favor more investment. Well, even if you exclude the fake data, the survey still shows that most people do favor investing more money.

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

   81%
2. B

   Out of Scope: accepted by public9% picked this

   the conclusion of the survey will be accepted by the public even though falsified

   Does it hurt the author to say that the survey data will still be accepted? No, because the author isn't concluding what people will or won't believe based on the survey; she's concluding about whether the survey's result is / isn't factually true.

   9%
3. C

   Irrelevant: other surveys2% picked this

   other pollsters in other surveys also may have

   Does it weaken the author's argument to say, "Sure this pollster falsified data, but c'monnnnn, everybody's doing it!" Of course not. The author is only concerned about the truth / falsity of this survey's result. How other pollsters in other surveys behave has no bearing on whether or not most people favor more investment in info tech.

   2%
4. D

   Too Weak / Unclear Impact4% picked this

   some people who responded to the survey

   "Some" just means "at least one", so answers with this language are almost always wrong on Strengthen, Weaken, or Paradox. Does it hurt the author's conclusion to say "at least one person who responded to the survey was lying"? Not really. We don't know if this one data point went in favor of the author's conclusion or against it. We don't know if the pollster's falsified data changed this response or not.

   4%
5. E

   Too Weak / Unclear Impact4% picked this

   people's opinions about investing in information technologies can change as new

   This answer is also very weak -- it's saying "it's possible for someone's opinion on how much to invest in information technology will change over time". Cool. That doesn't really say anything. We only care about what their opinions are right now, in this survey. And we have no idea whether their opinions would be changing in favor of more investment or against.

   4%