Criminologist: According to a countrywide

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Weak9% picked this

   Not all of the citizens selected for the series of independent surveys had been the

   Words like "some / not all" (that only provide at least one data point) are almost always wrong on Strengthen, Weaken, and Paradox. We weren't expecting the surveyed people to be victims of crime. Even when crime is increasing, it's unlikely that any given person has been a victim. That wouldn't explain the mismatch between crime data and perception of crime.

   9%
2. B

   Opposite4% picked this

   Most crimes committed in the country are not reported to local

   If most crimes are reported, then the crime rate should be even higher than it is, which would just exaggerate the mismatch, not explain it.

   4%
3. C

   Contradicts First Fact27% picked this

   The total annual number of crimes committed in the country has risen over the past 20 years but has fallen in proportion

   Saying that "total number of crimes has risen" would help to explain why people feel like there are more crimes, but "fallen in proportion to growing population" would contradict the first fact. If total crimes falls in proportion to population, then per capita crime is lower, which is what we mean by crime rate (crimes per 100,000 people).

   27%
4. D

   No Impact2% picked this

   In the series of independent surveys, many of the respondents did not accurately describe the crimes to which

   These seem to be different surveys? Who cares if people misdescribed the crimes they were victims of, if they were crimes either way (as the answer seems to allow for). It won't help us resolve the mismatch between reported crimes and perception of crimes. And the fact that this answer is focused on crime victims, just like (A) was, seems irrelevant.

   2%
5. E

   Correct58% picked this

   Of crimes committed in the country, a much greater proportion have been reported to local police departments in recent years than

   Why this is right

   One of LSAT's favorite tropes is "greater reporting of a crime vs. greater incidence of a crime". Perhaps women today would say that "sexual harassment" is the same or even slightly better than ten years ago, even though the number of reported sexual harassment incidents has gone up, as women feel more emboldened to report these incidents. This explains why the number of reported crimes could go up even if the actual number of crimes (and thus the perception of number of crimes) has gone down.

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

   58%