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In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths

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In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths

by vinni.k » Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:34 am
Which of the following best completes the passage below?

In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest, because____.


A. some dishonest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be honest
B. some generally honest people taking the survey might have claimed on the survey to be dishonest
C. some people who claimed on the survey to be at least a little dishonest may be very dishonest
D. some people who claimed on the survey to be dishonest may have been answering honestly
E. some people who are not job applicants are probably at least a little dishonest

Answer is A

I quickly eliminated B,D, and E but stuck between A and C. Why C is not better in comparison to A. O.G says the degree of honesty is irrelevant. Can someone please elaborate more on this ?

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by aneesh.kg » Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:53 am
The key in this question is that we have to see what skews the proportion of people that are dishonest. We have to note 'the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest' and NOT how dishonest one is. Whether one is a little dishonest, medium-dishonest or very dishonest, HE IS DISHONEST.

By saying that two-fifths admitted to being atleast a little dishonest, the statement implies that there could be more people that are dishonest.

(A) If some dishonest people have claimed to be dishonest, the actual fraction of dishonest people are more than two-fifths. This must be resulting in a wrong estimate of the proportion.

(C) talks about the degree of dishonesty. Even if those who have claimed on the survey are at least a little dishonest may be very dishonest, it will not have any effect on the proportion of people who are dishonest.

Say there are five people in the survey: A, B, C, D and E.
And, say A, B have claimed to be atleast a little dishonest.
If between A and B say B is actually very dishonest, the number of dishonest people will still be 2 (A and B). So, there is no effect on the proportion.
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu Apr 19, 2012 11:11 am
The survey results say that two-fifths of applicants are dishonest. There is no mention of levels of dishonesty: slightly dishonest, very dishonest, etc. It's an either/or situation.

A works by saying that there are people who responded "honest" who should actually be in the "dishonest" category, which distorts the survey results.

C introduces levels of dishonesty, which adds a new variable that wasn't considered in the original stimulus.
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