computer-based activities

This topic has expert replies
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 382
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 5:47 pm
Thanked: 15 times

by ArunangsuSahu » Sun Jan 01, 2012 7:39 am
(E). It's E because of the following

We have 24 hours in a day

The comparison should be between (TV Viewers) VS(Comp Activities in leisure hours + Comp Activities in Work)

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:13 am

by NehaShethia » Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:36 am
I think the answer is E

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:47 am
Thanked: 1 times

by somsubhra86 » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:42 pm
E is the answer

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:17 am
Location: chennai

by mba404 » Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:07 pm
IMO E

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2010 8:52 am

by abuc0112 » Tue Nov 06, 2012 5:36 am
Answer is E.

IF a majority of the respondents spent most of their time on the computer at work, then it goes to show why they would spent their free time watching television and hence time spent watching television will not change.

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 6:07 am

by [email protected] » Mon May 27, 2013 12:08 am
Initially I that the OA is "A". But, read carefully... "E" is more accurate. As, in A regulary does not give any estimation about the amount of time spent on TV.

IMO "E"

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 234
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:00 am
Location: West Virginia
Thanked: 9 times

by Java_85 » Thu Sep 05, 2013 7:41 am
I was between D and E, And chose D, but now agree that E makes more sense and D is not about FREE times.

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:05 pm
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:1 members

by ngalinh » Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:35 am
Dear Experts,
I have some questions below:

1/ Is the main author's reasoning " increasing in computer acts will result in decreasing in TV watching because of the lack of spare time--That's not true"? --> so we should go and find something to evaluate whether they (majority) still have free time or not?

2/ Could we automatically eliminate the possibility that the majority of the respondents represents for the whole population? (the author implies this?)

3/ Whether my thinking (in 1) would lead to pick the wrong answer if the answer choices were changed a bit, but the question were kept the same? If yes, how should I think?

Thank you,

geet wrote:The growing popularity of computer-based activities was widely expected to result in a decline in television viewing, since it had been assumed that people lack sufficient free time to maintain current television-viewing levels while spending increasing amounts of free time on the computer. That assumption, however, is evidently false: in a recent mail survey concerning media use, a very large majority of respondents who report increasing time spent per week using computers report no charge in time spent watching television.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in order to evaluate the argument?

A. Whether a large majority of the survey respondents reported watching television regularly
B. Whether the amount of time spent watching television is declining among people who report that they rarely or never use computers
C. Whether the type of television programs a person watches tends to change as the amount of time spent per week using computers increases
D. Whether a large majority of the computer owners in the survey reported spending increasing amounts of time per week using computers
E. Whether the survey respondents� reports of time spent using computers included time spent using computers at work

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:21 pm
I received a private message about this thread.
ngalinh wrote:Dear Experts,
I have some questions below:

1/ Is the main author's reasoning " increasing in computer acts will result in decreasing in TV watching because of the lack of spare time--That's not true"? --> so we should go and find something to evaluate whether they (majority) still have free time or not?
The parts I've put in boldface are the main point. The author is saying that "People will watch less TV" is false.
2/ Could we automatically eliminate the possibility that the majority of the respondents represents for the whole population? (the author implies this?)
This depends on what you mean.

Not everyone is like the majority, sure. However, when you look at the results of a statistical study, you're never going to see data in which every data point is the same. That's the whole point of statistical studies: to find trends in the data, even though there may be lots of exceptions.
I.e., "It's not true for everyone" does not invalidate a trend found in a study.
3/ Whether my thinking (in 1) would lead to pick the wrong answer if the answer choices were changed a bit, but the question were kept the same? If yes, how should I think?
It seems that you understand the conclusion just fine.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:05 pm
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:1 members

by ngalinh » Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:31 pm
Thanks Ron for answering my questions,

This question is clear to me now, but I was little confused at the first look, so tried to understand why.
To many evaluation questions, I see just focusing on the conclusion is enough to pick the answers. It's kind of evaluate the conclusion.

But one day I tripped over some questions in which the wrong answers affect the validity of the conclusions but they were out of scope.
For example, in this question, if there is a choice that "whether majority reduce TV watching time because a new research shows that watching TV will significantly reduce productivity", it would affect the conclusion.

So maybe I have to pay attention to "another head of the string", which is "increasing in computer acts" in this question. That means evaluate the string (that links a point in evidence and conclusion), not evaluate the conclusion. But sometimes I catches the wrong point if the reasoning seems to mix with context.

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:36 am
ngalinh wrote:in this question, if there is a choice that "whether majority reduce TV watching time because a new research shows that watching TV will significantly reduce productivity", it would affect the conclusion.
This question couldn't have a choice like that, because the passage presents the exact opposite ("a very large majority ... report no charge in time spent watching television") as factual evidence. Answer choices aren't going to contradict stated facts.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:05 pm
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:1 members

by ngalinh » Sun Sep 15, 2013 11:44 am
lunar power wrote: This question couldn't have a choice like that, because the passage presents the exact opposite ("a very large majority ... report no charge in time spent watching television") as factual evidence. Answer choices aren't going to contradict stated facts.
Oh yes, my bad. I often forget "barriers" in premises while reasoning, leading to pick wrong choices.
Maybe another way to affect the conclusion is about the survey itself: trusty or not. One way is to reconcile why the increase of computer acts doesn't affect time of watching TV, (for example, computer acts increase among people who rarely watch TV)

--> Does this kind of pre-thinking lead to pick the answer efficiently? (efficiency in term of the final result of the test, including accuracy vs. time consuming, % of CR questions can be applied...)
Or should I just keep in mind that I have to find something that can affect time for TV? (this way opens to a bigger scope, so sometimes it takes long time to think about choices, and it also opens to existing crowd in the mind pick answers)

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:56 am
Take what works for you. Leave what doesn't.

When it comes to predicting answer choices**, it really depends on you.
Some people get "tunnel vision": Once they have an answer in mind, they won't be able to notice other correct answers. For these individuals, predicting answers is a bad idea.
Other people can have a prediction in mind, but still be open to other possibilities. For these individuals, there's no downside to making a prediction.

--

** "Pre-think" is not a word. Let's just say "predict".
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron

Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:05 pm
Thanked: 3 times
Followed by:1 members

by ngalinh » Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:18 am
lunarpower wrote:Take what works for you. Leave what doesn't.
Both work for me, but in deferent time. (that's the problem)
When it comes to predicting answer choices**, it really depends on you.
Some people get "tunnel vision": Once they have an answer in mind, they won't be able to notice other correct answers. For these individuals, predicting answers is a bad idea.
Other people can have a prediction in mind, but still be open to other possibilities. For these individuals, there's no downside to making a prediction.
I see what you say.

--
** "Pre-think" is not a word. Let's just say "predict".
Good point. Pre-thinking mean eating (eat then you can think)

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3380
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:20 am
Thanked: 2256 times
Followed by:1535 members
GMAT Score:800

by lunarpower » Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:43 am
ngalinh wrote:
** "Pre-think" is not a word. Let's just say "predict".
Good point. Pre-thinking mean eating (eat then you can think)
Ha. I like it.

Although, ironically, I focus more clearly when I haven't eaten.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.

--

Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi

--

Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.

Yves Saint-Laurent

--

Learn more about ron