PT151 S2 Q9 ExplanationLast year, pharmaceutical manufacturers significantly

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Correct77% picked this

   Most pharmaceutical manufacturers increased the size of their sales forces so that their sales representatives could devote more

   Why this is right

   This offers an Alternate Explanation for the curious fact. It didn't go from 640 to 501 visits per year because doctors were no longer accepting visits. It decreased because the pharmaceutical companies decided they wanted sales reps to spend more time with each physician. 640 visits @ 1 hr / visit = 640 hours of promotion 501 visits @ 2 hr / visit = 1002 hours of promotion They spent their increased promotional budget on hiring more sales reps, so that they could have long afternoon walks with physicians, or take them to the opera or a WNBA game. This suggests an alternate explanation for why the visits per rep went from 640 to 501. It also reconciles some cognitive dissonance we may have had about how these companies could be spending more money on sales reps even while there are fewer visits per sales rep (the solution to that paradox is, "What if there are more sales reps than before!")

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

   77%
2. B

   No Impact2% picked this

   Physicians who receive visits from pharmaceutical sales representatives usually accept free samples of medication from

   This explains part of the incentive behind why a physician would ever say, "Yes, sales rep, you can visit my office". But this is a timeless answer, meaning it makes no distinction between timeframes. It doesn't speak at all to last year vs. two years ago. It has no power to help assess this 640 to 501 change that has occurred, because it was equally true in both situations.

   2%
3. C

   Strengthens3% picked this

   Most pharmaceutical companies did not increase the amount of money they spend promoting drugs through advertising

   This rules out and Alternate Explanation for the curious fact, so it strengthens. We might have said, "The site visits per representative didn't go down because physicians started refusing visits. It went down because the pharmaceutical companies decided to spend their promotional dollars a different way — advertising targeted directly at consumers."

   3%
4. D

   No Impact13% picked this

   Most physicians who agree to receive a visit from a pharmaceutical sales representative will see that representative more than

   This is a timeless answer, meaning it makes no distinction between timeframes. It doesn't speak at all to last year vs. two years ago. It has no power to help assess this 640 to 501 change that has occurred, because what it's talking about would be true in both of those years. This answer isn't indicating that there was any difference in the rate of multiple visits or willingness to have multiple visits per year.

   13%
5. E

   No Impact5% picked this

   The more visits a physician receives from a pharmaceutical sales representative, the more likely he or she is to prescribe drugs

   This explains part of the incentive behind why a sales rep wants to visit a physician. But this is a timeless answer, meaning it makes no distinction between timeframes. It doesn't speak at all to last year vs. two years ago. It has no power to help assess this 640 to 501 change that has occurred, because it was equally true in both situations.

   5%