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MGMAT CR - How to attack this Q?

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MGMAT CR - How to attack this Q?

by hja379 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:53 am
Recent research has indicated that married people are not only happier than unmarried people, but also healthier. This study has been widely reported by the media, with most commentators concluding that being married is good for one's health and attitude.

The conclusion of the media commentators depends on which of the following assumptions?
A. The longer people are married, the happier and healthier they become.
B. Married couples who had a large, extravagant wedding are happier than those who had a small, simple ceremony.
C. Married people cannot get depressed.
D. Single people with depression or health problems are just as likely to get married as are other single people.
E. Some marriages are more harmonious than others.

OA D
Last edited by hja379 on Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by maihuna » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:07 pm
I will bet on D. This is the only option talking about the possibility that married people are not only those people who are only healthier and happier, some chunk of them are depressed, in bad health too, in fact in good proportion see as likely.

Most of the other choices are vague.

To attack use denial, means negative of the given sentence should contradict/disapprove the conclusion/.
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by Adam@Knewton » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:38 pm
By far the easiest way to attack this question is to be familiar with how the GMAT tests Causality. The media here have made a classically flawed Argument that you are sure to see on test day: confusing correlation with causation. We are told that married people are healthier and happier, and the media conclude that being married in fact CAUSES their health and happiness. There are two classic reasons the GMAT will include as to why this might be wrong: Either some additional factor, other than marriage, is in fact causing their health and happiness, OR the causation is reversed: that is, that people who are already healthy and happy are the ones who are getting married.

So, looking at the answer choices, we're looking for something that addresses this Causality problem. It would be much easier as a Weakener, where we'd expect a choice that simply says, "Happier people are more likely to get married" or something. Instead, in an Assumption question, we have to be careful with each choice and find one that is logically equivalent to saying "It isn't happiness that causes you to get married," because this is what the Argument assumes: if it were false, if happiness DID cause you to get married, the argument would fail.

Be wary of choices like A and C which seem to strengthen the argument by basically saying "Yeah, marriage DOES cause happiness" -- this is an Assumption question, and we need something that is necessary to the Argument (without which the Argument would fail), not just generally agreeable to it. B and E, meanwhile, introduce irrelevant comparisons between different kinds of marriages, when no such distinction is made in the original Argument.

The correct answer, when interpreted correctly, means that healtthy and unhealthy, happy and unhappy people get married at the same rate as each other. If these were false, then it could be that unhappy single peop are less likely to get married, which would explain the statistics cited in the passage without implying the causality that the media are reporting. Thus, the answer is D.
Last edited by Adam@Knewton on Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by hja379 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:25 pm
I have posted the OA.
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by hja379 » Mon Jan 17, 2011 3:37 pm
AdamKnewton wrote:By far the easiest way to attack this question is to be familiar with how the GMAT tests Causality. The media here have made a classically flawed Argument that you are sure to see on test day: confusing correlation with causation. We are told that married people are healthier and happier, and the media conclude that being married in fact CAUSES their health and happiness. There are two classic reasons the GMAT will include as to why this might be wrong: Either some additional factor, other than marriage, is in fact causing their health and happiness, OR the causation is reversed: that is, that people who are already healthy and happy are the ones who are getting married.

So, looking at the answer choices, we're looking for something that addresses this Causality problem. It would be much easier as a Weakener, where we'd expect a choice that simply says, "Happier people are more likely to get married" or something. Instead, in an Assumption question, we have to be careful with each choice and find one that is logically equivalent to saying "It isn't happiness that causes you to get married," because this is what the Argument assumes: if it were false, if happiness DID cause you to get married, the argument would fail.

Be wary of choices like A and C which seem to strengthen the argument by basically saying "Yeah, marriage DOES cause happiness" -- this is an Assumption question, and we need something that is necessary to the Argument (without which the Argument would fail), not just generally agreeable to it. B and E, meanwhile, introduce irrelevant comparisons between different kinds of marriages, when no such distinction is made in the original Argument.

The correct answer, when interpreted correctly, means that healtthy and unhealthy, happy and unhappy people get married at the same rate as each other. If these were false, then it could be that unhappy single peop are less likely to get married, which would explain the statistics cited in the passage without implying the causality that the media are reporting. Thus, the answer is D.
Adam.. you nailed this one. Thanks much for the explanation.
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