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by chaitanya.mehrotra » Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:48 pm
A recent study has concluded that, contrary to the claims of those trying to ban cigarette advertisements altogether , cigarette ads placed on billboards and in magazines have little to no effect on the smoking habits of the smokers who view the ads.The study, which surveyed more than 20000 smokers and solicited their reasons for continuing to smoke , found that practically no one in the survey felt that these advertisements influenced their decision to smoke -

The study's conclusion is based upon which of the following assumptions?

a)People do not switch cigarette brands based on their exposure to cigarette ads on billboards and in magazines
b)Cigarette ads on billboards and in magazine do not encourage non smokers to take up the habit
c)Banning cigarette ads altogether will encourage people to give up smoking
d)People are consciously aware of all the reasons they choose to smoke
e)People who decide to smoke do so for rational reasons

Feel the OA is wrong it should be [spoiler]B ![/spoiler]

Ans D
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by fitzgerald23 » Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:29 pm
The only relevant material from the passage is:

Smokers surveyed said ads did not influence them to smoke.

For these results to be accurate what assumption must be made?

A. Incorrect. Switrching brands is not the issue, smoking being caused by ads is.

B. Incorrect. We are not talking about non smokers and smoking. The study is concerned with current smokers being influenced by ads.

C. Incorrect. We are interested in effects on smoking decisions not giving up smoking

D. Correct. In order for the study to be valid people have to actually know why they smoke. If they are unaware that the ads subliminally help them choose to keep smoking at their current rate then the results are invalid.

E. Incorrect. Could be rational or irrational. Our care is about the ads effect on decisions.
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by Joe K » Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:18 pm
The argument in the passage looks like this:


Premise: No smoker surveyed felt ads influenced them.

Conclusion: Cigarette ads placed on billboards and in magazines have little to no effect on the smoking habits of the smokers who view the ads.

We know that the argument contains a flaw because it is making an assumption. Adding the assumption into the argument as a premise will correct the flaw. So, what is the flaw? The argument concludes that the ads have no effect on smokers because the smokers didn't feel one. To make it valid we have to establish that the smokers can in fact feel the influences that make them smoke.


Missing Premise(the assumption): Smokers have the ability to feel what influences them to smoke.
Premise: No smoker surveyed felt ads influenced them.
Therefore
Conclusion: Cigarette ads placed on billboards and in magazines have little to no effect on the smoking habits of the smokers who view the ads

Answer D fits perfectly.


Choice B is out of scope. The conclusion is about the effects on smokers who view the ads, not non-smokers viewing the ad. Try putting choice B in.


Premise: No smoker surveyed felt ads influenced them.
Missing Premise(the assumption): Cigarette ads do not encourage non smokers to take up the habit
Therefore
Conclusion: Cigarette ads placed on billboards and in magazines have little to no effect on the smoking habits of the smokers who view the ads

This doesn't fit.
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by AIM GMAT » Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:25 pm
Thanks guys for wonderful explanations !!!

fitzgerald23 and Joe K you rock .
Thanks & Regards,
AIM GMAT
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by amaelle » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:18 am
Good day all,

i have one remark related to this particular problem

The argument in the passage looks like this:


Premise: No smoker surveyed felt ads influenced them.

Conclusion: Cigarette ads placed on billboards and in magazines have little to no effect on the smoking habits of the smokers who view the ads.


if i take the answer A it stated clearly that the smokers don't change their cigarettes brands after reading the adds if i negate this, it will give us something like "the smokers do change their brands after the adds," and this is also a kind of shiffting behavior, negating A will surely undermine the conclusion.
I would be very gratful if somoene interact with me on this particular point ?

Ama
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by KapTeacherEli » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:25 pm
Hi Ama,

Remember, when using the negation test on prompts, the opposite of "none" isn't "all" or "many"; it's "at least one." If we negate (A) we find that "a minimum of one person has switched brands because of billboard cigarette advertisements," which doesn't particularly strengthen or weaken the conclusion is that the billboards have "little to no" impact on habits.
Eli Meyer
Kaplan GMAT Teacher
Cambridge, MA
www.kaptest.com/gmat

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