Just to clarify: the correct answer typically will dispute not the data itself but the INTERPRETATION of the data.GMAT Kolaveri wrote:In such type of CR questions where the author concludes something from the results of a study, the most common way to weaken the argument is by showing that the data used by the author is incorrect..
The nature of most STUDY CRs is as follows:
Study: In many cases, X and Y have been observed together.
Conclusion: X is LINKED to Y.
Assumptions:
That the concurrence of X and Y was not a coincidence.
That there was no other cause.
That Y did not cause X.
In the CR at hand:
X = less masculine facial features
Y = the ratings
Conclusion: there is a LINK between X (the facial features) and Y (the ratings).
The OA breaks this link by providing an ALTERNATE cause: it was not the facial features of the men but the difference in the men's AGES that led to the different ratings.
In other words, the study's INTERPRETATION of the data is incorrect.
