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Avg. age of CEO

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Avg. age of CEO

by italian7745 » Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:16 am
The average age of chief executive officers (CEO's) in a large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO's in those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded that CEO's in general tend to be older now.

Which of the following casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The dates when the CEO's assumed their current positions have not been specified.
(B) No information is given concerning the average number of years that CEO's remain in office.
(C) The information is based only on companies that have been operating for at least 20 years.
(D) Only approximate information is given concerning the average age of the CEO's 20 years ago.
(E) Information concerning the exact number of companies in the sample has not been given.

Why not B ?
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by Giorgio » Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:56 am
A?
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by pandeyvineet24 » Fri Nov 27, 2009 4:42 pm
IMO B.
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by mehravikas » Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:37 pm
Should be B - To properly conclude the average age, you need the tenure of CEO's.
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by Testluv » Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:51 pm
italian7745 wrote:The average age of chief executive officers (CEO's) in a large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO's in those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded that CEO's in general tend to be older now.

Which of the following casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The dates when the CEO's assumed their current positions have not been specified.
(B) No information is given concerning the average number of years that CEO's remain in office.
(C) The information is based only on companies that have been operating for at least 20 years.
(D) Only approximate information is given concerning the average age of the CEO's 20 years ago.
(E) Information concerning the exact number of companies in the sample has not been given.

Why not B ?
B is incorrect because there isn't any necessary relationship between someone's age and how long they have been a CEO in a company. You can be sixty years old and been CEO for five years; you can be forty years old and been CEO for twenty years. In other words, the scope of the conclusion is the CEOs' age.

The correct answer must be choice C. The argument's conclusion is that CEO's tend to be older now in general. However, because the study only looks at companies that were existing at least twenty years ago, the study has completely ignored companies that came into being fifteen, ten or five years ago. It could be that, in these companies the CEOs are quite young.

In other words, this is a misrepresentative sample. Whenever you get a CR about studies, samples, statistics etc, you should always ask yourself: what is the group in the conclusion, and what is the group in the evidence?
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by italian7745 » Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:35 pm
OA is C
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by mehravikas » Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:31 pm
Have you ever got an answer wrong on CR :-) ?
Testluv wrote:
italian7745 wrote:The average age of chief executive officers (CEO's) in a large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO's in those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded that CEO's in general tend to be older now.

Which of the following casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) The dates when the CEO's assumed their current positions have not been specified.
(B) No information is given concerning the average number of years that CEO's remain in office.
(C) The information is based only on companies that have been operating for at least 20 years.
(D) Only approximate information is given concerning the average age of the CEO's 20 years ago.
(E) Information concerning the exact number of companies in the sample has not been given.

Why not B ?
B is incorrect because there isn't any necessary relationship between someone's age and how long they have been a CEO in a company. You can be sixty years old and been CEO for five years; you can be forty years old and been CEO for twenty years. In other words, the scope of the conclusion is the CEOs' age.

The correct answer must be choice C. The argument's conclusion is that CEO's tend to be older now in general. However, because the study only looks at companies that were existing at least twenty years ago, the study has completely ignored companies that came into being fifteen, ten or five years ago. It could be that, in these companies the CEOs are quite young.

In other words, this is a misrepresentative sample. Whenever you get a CR about studies, samples, statistics etc, you should always ask yourself: what is the group in the conclusion, and what is the group in the evidence?
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by brick2009 » Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:32 pm
OA : C

because.... one of the ways you can cast a doubt on the conclusion is by proving the SURVEY data is invalid. (MGMAT)

so C says... if the data does not consider companies older than 20 yrs or less than 20 yrs.. the Conclusion is based on an invalid sample.
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by joseph32 » Sun May 15, 2016 10:40 pm
I'd say C but I'm afraid more because of my intuition than any logic.
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