Logical Reasoning

PT2 · S4 · Q5 A government agency publishes ratings

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A government agency publishes ratings of airlines, ranking highest the airlines that have the smallest proportion of late flights.

Background

A government agency rates airlines highest when they have the smallest proportion of late flights.

Conclusion (the Use)

The agency uses these ratings to measure the relative efficiency of different airlines' personnel at meeting flight schedules.

Evaluate

The ratings only measure on-time performance, not what causes lateness. To validly read the ratings as a measure of personnel efficiency, lateness needs to be (mostly) the personnel's doing. If something outside personnel control — like weather — causes a substantial share of lateness, and affects different airlines differently, then the ratings are partly measuring uncontrollable factors, not personnel efficiency.

Goal

The correct answer should show that lateness is driven significantly by factors outside personnel control that affect airlines unevenly.

Which one of the following, if true, would tend to invalidate use of the ratings for the agency’s purpose?

Travelers sometimes have no choice
No Impact
What travelers are given for choices has nothing to do with whether the rating accurately measures personnel efficiency. The agency's ability to rank airlines on personnel efficiency does not depend on traveler choice; it depends on whether on-time performance reflects what personnel do.
2% picked this
Correct
Flights are often made late
Why this is right
This pulls personnel out of the picture for a big chunk of lateness. Bad weather is outside the airline's control, and if it affects some airlines more than others — say, because of where they fly — then those airlines will look worse on the rating without their personnel actually being less efficient. The ranking is partly capturing geographic and weather luck, not personnel performance. That invalidates using the rating as a measure of personnel efficiency.
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
83% picked this
The flight schedules of all
No Impact
If all airline schedules already pad time for busy airports, that is a uniform feature across the rating — it adjusts everyone equally and does not give any airline an unfair advantage or disadvantage. The relative comparison between airlines is preserved.
3% picked this
Airline personnel are aware that
Opposite
If anything, this strengthens the rating's validity. If personnel know they are being watched, they have extra incentive to perform efficiently — making the on-time numbers a more direct reflection of effort and performance. That helps the agency's use of the rating, not hurts.
3% picked this
Flights are defined as “late”
No Impact
The exact threshold for "late" (more than 15 minutes past scheduled arrival) is just a definitional detail applied uniformly to all airlines. It does not introduce uneven, uncontrollable factors that distort the comparison between airlines on personnel efficiency.
9% picked this

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