Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT123 S2 Q20 Explanation

Gamba: Muñoz claims that the Southwest

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

TopicsMethod

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Stimulus

Gamba: Muñoz claims that the Southwest Hopeville Neighbors Association overwhelmingly opposes the new water system, citing this as evidence of citywide opposition. The association did pass a resolution opposing the new water system, but only 25 of 350 members voted, with 10 in favor of the system. Furthermore, the 15 opposing votes so few votes represent the view of the majority of Hopeville’s residents.

What this question is testing

Method

Your task

Describe how the argument proceeds — the technique it uses to reach its conclusion.

Common trap

Answers that describe a method the argument doesn't actually use.

Winning move

Track the role each statement plays, then match that to the choice describing the same moves.

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The question
20.

Of the following, which one most accurately describes Gamba’s strategy

Answer choices

  1. Bad Evidence Match2% picked this

    questioning a conclusion based on the results of a vote, on the grounds that people with certain views

    The author is questioning Muñoz's conclusion, which is based on the results of a vote, but the evidence never talks about the idea that people with certain views are more likely to vote. This would be a different Sampling issue (a self-selecting sample), but the argument is concerned with the Sample merely being too small.

  2. Bad Evidence Match5% picked this

    questioning a claim supported by statistical data by arguing that statistical data can be manipulated to support whatever view

    The author is questioning Muñoz's claim, which is supported by statistical data, but the evidence never talks about the idea that statistics can be manipulated to support whatever view you want to support.

  3. Bad Description: contrary to what's claimed7% picked this

    attempting to refute an argument by showing that, contrary to what has been claimed, the truth of the premises does not guarantee

    This is somewhat tempting since our author is trying to show that Muñoz's conclusion about citywide opposition is not sufficiently supported by this piddly little Association vote. However, "contrary to what has been claimed", doesn't match up with anything. According to this answer, Muñoz claimed that the truth of his premise guarantees the truth of his conclusion. We only know that he cited the Association's vote as evidence for his claim, not that he cited it as proof of his claim.

  4. Bad Evidence Match2% picked this

    criticizing a view on the grounds that the view is based on evidence that is in

    This misrepresents the argument's view about the votes opposing the new water system. It's not the votes are impossible to disconfirm, but rather that there are too few of them to assume that they are representative of the view of the majority of Hopeville's residents.

  5. Correct84% picked this

    attempting to cast doubt on a conclusion by claiming that the statistical sample on which the conclusion is based is

    Why this is right

    This correctly describes the argument's conclusion (Munoz did not prove overwhelming opposition to the water system) as well as the evidence used to support it (15 votes opposing the new water system is too few to be sure that it represents the majority opinion).

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

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