Mark: The decongestant drug

Answer choices

1. A

   Bad Evidence Match1% picked this

   using a product's overall record of safety as evidence that the product is not linked to

   Using X as evidence that Y means that X should match the evidence and Y should match the conclusion. Did Kathy's evidence refer to "a product's overall record of safety"? Nope. It referred to "the different chemical compositions of the two drugs".

   1%
2. B

   Bad Evidence Match3% picked this

   attempting to discredit an argument by comparing it to another obviously flawed argument that

   Attempting to do X by doing Y means that Y should match the evidence and X should match the conclusion. Did Kathy's evidence make an argument that is parallel to Mark's argument and demonstrates its flaw? Nope. It referred to "the different chemical compositions of the two drugs". This answer is describing a response that would sound like this: "Mark, that would be like saying chocolate and broccoli have the same effect on your body, since both of them enter the body through the same chewing mechanism."

   3%
3. C

   Bad Evidence Match2% picked this

   arguing against a conclusion by raising questions about the validity of scientific studies cited in

   Arguing X by raising Y means that Y should match the evidence and X should match the conclusion. Did Kathy's evidence raise questions about the validity of a scientific study? Nope. It just said, "these two drugs have different chemical compositions ".

   2%
4. D

   Bad Evidence Match14% picked this

   attempting to undermine an argument by showing that it is incompatible with a fundamental

   Attempting to do X by doing Y means that Y should match the evidence and X should match the conclusion. Did Kathy's evidence say that Mark's argument contradicted a fundamental principle of medicine? Nope. It just said, "the two drugs are chemically different".

   14%
5. E

   Correct80% picked this

   challenging an argument from analogy by focusing on a dissimilarity between the

   Why this is right

   Doing X by doing Y means that Y should match the evidence and X should match the conclusion. Did Kathy's evidence focus on a dissimilarity between things being compared? Yes. It said that the two drugs being compared were chemically dissimilar. Was Kathy challenging an argument from analogy? Yes. She was challenging Mark's argument. And his argument is based on an analogy. An argument by analogy is saying, "Thing X and Thing Y have trait A in common. Since Thing X has trait B, Thing Y probably has trait B too". "Z and Q are both decongestants and work by essentially the same physiological mechanism. Since Z increases the risk of heart attack, Q probably also increases the risk of heart attack".

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

   80%