Voting records regularly show

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct53% picked this

   compares an early stage of one generation to a later stage

   Why this is right

   An alternate explanation for the schism in voting behavior is simply that people get more politically active as they get older. It's not a generational thing; it's just an aging thing. Maybe 80% of Baby Boomers vote, while only 30% of Gen Z votes, but if you were to rewind the clock 50 years, when the Baby Boomers were in their early 20s, you'd find that only 30% of Baby Boomers voted back when they were in their early 20s. This answer choice is tiptoeing around that objection. It's saying, "It's not fair for you to compare how the Boomers vote in their 70s to how Gen Z votes in their 20s. If you're trying to compare the political engagement of one generation vs. that of another, you need to make a fairer comparison: what % of Boomers voted when they were in their 20s vs. what % of Gen Z votes right now in their 20s." Otherwise, it's hard to tell whether the difference in voting is because different generations had different political values or just because as we get older we're more likely to have the time and interest to vote.

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

   53%
2. B

   % vs. #16% picked this

   fails to take into account the relative sizes of the

   The relative size of the generations is irrelevant. It doesn't make a difference which generation is more populous, because we're only talking about the percentage of people from each generation who vote.

   16%
3. C

   Not a Flaw4% picked this

   provides evidence for a phenomenon without providing an explanation of

   It's not objectionable to provide evidence for a phenomenon without providing an explanation of the phenomenon. I might present evidence that "my mom really loves Justin Bieber" by pointing out she has all his albums, and has been to his concerts, and has an ankle tattoo that says Belieber. With this evidence, I have built a strong case that my mom loves Justin Bieber. For me to be right, I don't need to also explain why she likes him.

   4%
4. D

   Not an Objection Always Wrong7% picked this

   confuses the cause of an effect with the

   There is a correlation in the evidence between being in an older generation and voting more. The author concludes that being in this older generation causes its members to vote more. This answer choice is saying the author failed to consider that "voting more is actually causing them to be in this generation". That's nonsensical, of course. SIDE NOTE: When authors present a correlation between X and Y and conclude that X causes Y, we want to raise the possibility that Y might cause X. But we can never say with surety that Y causes X. So whenever we see a Flaw answer choice saying, with certainty, that "the author confused cause and effect" it's wrong. If they say it's possible the author confused cause and effect, it could still be correct.

   7%
5. E

   Not an Objection20% picked this

   overlooks the possibility that voting patterns among age groups will change

   Does it weaken the argument to say, "Hey, author, voting patterns among age groups will change in the future"? Nope, because the author has already committed himself to that very idea. He thinks that each passing generation is increasingly disconnected (and thus will vote in lower percentages). So when Gen Z reaches their 30s, and now the Remote Learning generation is in their 20s, this author expects people in the age group of 20-29 to vote at lower rates than they did when Gen Z was filling up the 20-29 age group. Our objection was "what if voting habits change as you age", not "what if voting patterns for a given age group change in the future".

   20%