Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT14 S2 Q9 Explanation

Ph.D. programs are valuable only if

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

TopicsRole

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Stimulus

Ph.D. programs are valuable only if they inculcate good scholarship and expedite the student’s full participation in the field. Hence, doctoral dissertations should not be required in the humanities. Undertaking a quality book-length dissertation demands an accumulation of knowledge virtually impossible for those relatively new to their disciplines. The student consequently either the dissertation is counterproductive and frustrates the appropriate goals of the doctoral program.

What this question is testing

Role

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

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The question
9.

The claim that doctoral dissertations should not be required in the humanities plays which one of the following

Answer choices

  1. Trap7% picked this

    It provides essential support for the

  2. Trap2% picked this

    It is an example illustrative of a general principle concerning the goals

  3. Correct83% picked this

    It is what the argument is attempting

    Why this is right

    Answer C is correct.

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

  4. Trap3% picked this

    It provides evidence for the assumption that requirements for degrees in the humanities differ from requirements for

  5. Trap6% picked this

    It confirms the observation that the requirement for a dissertation can frustrate the goals of

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