Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT6 S3 Q6 Explanation

Four randomly chosen market research

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsParadox

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Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

Four randomly chosen market research companies each produced population estimates for three middle-sized cities; the estimates of each company were then compared with those of the other companies. Two of the cities had relatively stable populations, and for them estimates of current population and of projected population in five years varied little which was growing rapidly, estimates varied greatly from company to company.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
6.

Which one of the following, if true, would best help explain why estimates of the current population of the rapidly growing city varied more than did current population

Answer choices

  1. Trap1% picked this

    Population changes over time are more uniform from one district to another in the rapidly growing city than

  2. Trap3% picked this

    The population of the rapidly growing city is increasing largely as a result of a

  3. Trap3% picked this

    The population of the rapidly growing city has a lower average age than the populations of either of

  4. Trap5% picked this

    All population estimates of the rapidly growing city were produced first by estimating the current populations of the city’s districts and

  5. Correct88% picked this

    Whereas the companies used different methods for estimating the current population of the rapidly growing city, the companies used the same method

    Why this is right

    Answer E is correct.

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

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