Logical Reasoning

PT145 · S4 · Q11 Polls have shown that a higher

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Polls have shown that a higher percentage of graduating university students are against proposals to reduce government social services than are students entering their first year at a university.

Conclusion

People with a college education are more likely to support maintaining / raising the level of govt. social services than are members of the overall population.

Evidence

People graduating college are less likely to support reducing the level of govt. social services than are students entering their first year.

Evaluate

This isn't a Causal conclusion, just statistical. There are two differences between the premise and the conclusion: one says "students entering their first year", the other says "members of the overall population". One says "graduating students", the other says "people with a university education".

The argument is like saying, Since people graduating college have been to more countries than have students entering their first year, people who've graduated college have been to more countries than have members of the overall population.

Are first year college students fair to compare with the overall population? Are graduating students fair to compare with people who've graduated?

Goal

Make it seem like first year college students aren't representative of the overall population, or that graduating students aren't representative of people with a university education.

11.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  1. The polls of graduating university

    Strengthens

    This makes the data seem stronger, if they did a good job of representing the overall variety of college grads.

    1% picked this

  2. The political views of people

    Strengthens

    This increases the plausibility that attending college is a causal difference-maker that could make someone be more into government social spending than is the average person.

    6% picked this

  3. Polls of retired persons who

    Strengthens

    Although the author hasn't said anything explicitly causal, we can think of his conclusion as thinking that "going to college makes you more likely to oppose reductions in social spending". This answer feels like a No Cause, No Effect strengthener. The people who didn't graduate college are more likely to favor reductions than the people who did graduate. It sounds like going to college really does skew you towards favoring social spending more than the rest of the population.

    13% picked this

  4. Correct

    Polls of those who graduated

    Why this is right

    This is saying that people who are 27 or older (i.e. they graduated at 22, at least 5 years ago) are more in favor of reducing social services than is the overall population. This sounds like the opposite of what we heard in the argument, where the college grads were more opposed to reducing social services. Do they contradict? No, the premise was comparing graduating students to first year students. This answer choice is talking about people who are at least five years removed from graduation. The conclusion blends these two groups together, because it talks about "people with a university education". The conclusion is looking pretty shaky. If college grads age 27 and up are actually soured on social services more than the overall population, then college grads overall might be more negative about social services than is the overall population.

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

    74% picked this

  5. In the polls cited, graduating

    Strengthens

    This seems to only underscore the difference between graduating students and first year students that we were told about in the Premise. That would probably help the author to think that college grads are thus different from the rest of the population.

    7% picked this

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