PT154 S4 Q5 ExplanationProfessor: During election years, voters

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Irrelevant Distinction3% picked this

   The newspapers that provide extensive coverage of election issues have a smaller circulation, on average, than the newspapers that provide very

   The number of people in each group doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if there are 10 subscribers in one group and 10,000 in the other, or if there are exactly the same number in each group. Either way, it's still possible for the subscribers in one group to be better informed than the other, or to not be better informed. The size of each group doesn't help to explain why one group is not better informed when we can reasonably expect them to be.

   3%
2. B

   Unclear Impact2% picked this

   Many newspapers that once provided extensive coverage of election issues now provide very little coverage

   This answer choice is tempting if you're thinking that both groups are well informed about the issues. Maybe the second group—the people who subscribe to papers that have very little coverage of election issues—are all reading papers that once provided extensive coverage. And maybe that change in coverage only happened recently, so these people are still well informed. The problem is that this scenario relies on a lot of "maybes," and we aren't told that any of these "maybes" are actually true. Without that additional information, it's unclear if this answer is actually relevant.

   2%
3. C

   Correct90% picked this

   Most regular subscribers to the newspapers that provide extensive coverage of election issues rarely read the

   Why this is right

   Did you notice that the stimulus repeatedly mentioned "subscribers" and not "readers?" Nothing in the stimulus stated that either group actually reads the newspapers that they subscribe to. Maybe they read parts of the paper, just not those boring articles about election issues. That would be enough to explain the lack of a difference between the two groups. Maybe these people just skip to the sports page, then do the crossword puzzle.

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

   90%
4. D

   No Impact1% picked this

   Many of the voters who feel that they are insufficiently informed about election issues do

   This is referring to a statement in the first sentence which isn't actually part of the paradox that we're trying to explain. The paradox involves people who do subscribe to newspapers. This fact about people who don't subscribe doesn't help explain the paradox.

   1%
5. E

   Unclear Impact4% picked this

   Most voters get the majority of their information about election issues from sources

   We don't know which group of newspaper subscribers this answer choice applies to. It could apply equally to both groups of subscribers—maybe both groups subscribe to newspapers but get their information elsewhere. Or this might not apply to either group. Without more information, it's not clear how this would explain anything.

   4%