Letter to the editor: Your newspaper’s

Answer choices

1. A

   Wrong Flaw3% picked this

   infers a cause from a mere

   This refers to the famous Causal flaw, specifically a subtype in which the author presents a correlation between X and Y (e.g. people who are X are more likely than those who are not X to be Y), and then overconfidently assumes that this means that X causes Y. There was no correlation in the evidence and the conclusion is definitely not causal. (It's just a rebuttal -- a rejection of an idea)

   3%
2. B

   Wrong Flaw9% picked this

   bases its conclusion on a sample that is

   This refers to the famous Sampling flaw, in which an author relies on a sample that seems untrustworthy, because it's either too small, biased, self-selecting, or likely to have skewed data for some other reason. This flaw is saying, "Because X was true in these cases, X will be true in this wider set of similar cases". That doesn't resemble this argument.

   9%
3. C

   Correct85% picked this

   misinterprets a key word in the

   Why this is right

   The key word is "popular", which the advertisement meant in terms of "which sports are most popular with our readers", and which the author interpreted as "which sports are most popular in terms of student participation".

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

   85%
4. D

   Wrong Flaw2% picked this

   employs as a premise the contention it purports

   This refers to the famous Circular reasoning flaw, although this is the most creatively overwrought wording I've ever seen for it. Circular reasoning sounds like: the premise restates the conclusion the premise assumes the truth of the conclusion more variations establishes what it seeks to prove presupposes what it sets out to establish employs as a premise the contention it purports to show The conclusion is that "the newspaper does not cover the most popular sports (guilty of false advertising". Was there also a premise that said "the newspaper does not cover the most popular sports"? Nope.

   2%
5. E

   Wrong Flaw1% picked this

   criticizes the source of a claim rather than the

   This is the famous Ad Hominem flaw, in which an author dismisses an idea or an argument, because of the source of the claim/argument is someone with a biased/vested interest in the matter or someone with conflicting past behavior. This argument doesn't resemble that at all. The conclusion is literally criticizing a claim "your advertisement's claim is false advertising".

   1%