Trainer: An athlete developed lower back pain

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct71% picked this

   It fails to consider that even if the use of heating pads is more effective at relieving lower back pain than stretching is, it

   Why this is right

   It will always be wrong to say "fails to consider that even if [the Conclusion] is true". The conclusion is only about whether or not heating pads are better at relieving pain (not about whether they're better at healing the underlying injury). So in the first half of this answer choice, we are awarding this author the victory, rather than resisting the conclusion he is trying to draw.

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

   71%
2. B

   Alternate Explanation9% picked this

   It fails to consider the fact that lower back pain resulting from athletic competitions often disappears after several days regardless of

   This is saying, "Maybe the heating pad wasn't why the pain went away; lower back pain from a sports injury often just goes away on its own after a handful of days".

   9%
3. C

   Unrepresentative Sample9% picked this

   It fails to consider that the athlete?s experience regarding the effectiveness of different methods of relieving lower back pain may not have been representative

   This answer calls out the Sampling move in the conclusion. Even if we grant that a heating pad was more effective for this athlete, that wouldn't show that heating pads are generally more effective, because her experience may have been atypical.

   9%
4. D

   Unrepresentative Sample6% picked this

   It overlooks the possibility that the effectiveness of different methods of relieving lower back pain may vary substantially depending on the underlying

   This answer calls out the Sampling move in the conclusion. Even if we grant that a heating pad was more effective for this athlete, that wouldn't show that heating pads are generally more effective, because her injury may have been one that was more conducive to heating pads than other injuries would have been.

   6%
5. E

   Alternative Explanation6% picked this

   It overlooks the possibility that there might be ways of stretching that are much more effective at relieving lower back pain than

   This is objecting that "heating pads are not generally more effective than stretching — the reason that stretching failed in her case is just because she didn't try the right form of stretching, which would have been much more effective."

   6%