PT152 S2 Q17 ExplanationScientist: A number of errors

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   No Impact5% picked this

   Researchers normally give data that is in line with a theory the same weight as data that conflicts with that theory when they are

   We don't care about whether a theory is going to get accepted or not. We just care about why corrected data points are generally drifting towards Jones's theory.

   5%
2. B

   Correct67% picked this

   Researchers in the scientist’s field give data that conflicts with Jones’s theory greater scrutiny than they give data that is

   Why this is right

   This points to a distinction that could be a causal difference-maker. If the people scanning for errors are giving more scrutiny to data points that conflict with Jones's theory, then they won't notice erroneous data points that align with Jones's theory but are actually bad data points. Those data points would have shifted away from Jones's theory. This is more or less describing confirmation bias skewing the results of a study. If a high school teacher thought that male students were more likely to plagiarize than were female students, he might give the essays from male students more scrutiny, in terms of checking online to see if they seemed to have plagiarized any of their papers. Since he doesn't expect the female students to plagiarize, he's not checking their papers as closely. Through this act of confirmation bias, he will reinforce this stereotype he has. He'll find more examples of males plagiarizing than females plagiarizing, since he's putting more effort into looking for trouble with males' papers. Similarly, if these researchers already implicitly assume J's theory is right, they'll have some confirmation bias. They won't bother checking the the data points that align with Jones's theory, because they're assuming those data points are probably correct. Meanwhile, they'll expend effort looking at data points that diverge from Jones's theory, so they'll catch more offenders (erroneous data points).

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

   67%
3. C

   Unclear Impact18% picked this

   Researchers in the scientist’s field are more likely to pursue lines of research that they expect will favor theories they accept than

   Someone might have liked this if they were looking for an answer that said, "the corrected data points shift towards Jones's theory, because Jones's theory is right". This is more like, "Some lines of research will favor Jones's theory. These researchers accept Jones's theory, so they pursue flattering lines of research. Thus, since Jones's theory is 'right' for these lines of research, corrections will usually bring data points closer to Jones's predictions." There's a lot of stretching for us to try to turn this answer into that story. The biggest gap is that we have no idea whether any researchers in this field favor Jones's theory, and without knowing that we can't possibly get this answer to go anywhere.

   18%
4. D

   Very Weak6% picked this

   Even if researchers fail to detect errors in a data-collection process when they examine data that they collected, that does not guarantee

   "Even if ... that does not guarantee" is language that shows there is a possibility for at least one thing. Even if they fail to detect errors, it is possible that at least one error exists. "At least one" strength of language (some, sometimes, not all, can, may, might, need not) is almost never correct on Strengthen / Weaken / Paradox. This answer has no power to make a distinction between data points that do / don't align with Jones's predictions.

   6%
5. E

   No Impact4% picked this

   Researchers in the scientist’s field have formulated several other theories that attempt to explain the same range of phenomena that

   The fact that Jones's theory is not the only theory doesn't change anything, and it doesn't explain why corrected data points are mainly moving in the direction of aligning more closely with Jones's theory.

   4%