Physician: In order to investigate diseases caused by hormon

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Physician: In order to investigate diseases caused by hormonal imbalances, a certain researcher wants to study, among others, 200 children whose pituitary glands fail to produce typical amounts of Human Growth Hormone (HGH). The study would involve administering a synthetic version of HGH to the children over a two-year period. But medical research should be permitted only if it is likely to reveal important information about a medical condition and is known to pose only a minimal risk to the subjects. The researcher's proposed study should be prohibited.

Which one of the following, if true, would most help to justify the physician's argumentation?

(A) The resources expended on the HGH study could be spent instead on research likely to lead to treatments for medical conditions more serious than diseases stemming from hormonal imbalances.

(B) About 10,000 children have already been given synthetic HGH without obvious side effects.

(C) Obtaining informed consent from children is impossible, because they are not yet mature

(D) Although hormonal imbalances can cause disease, the imbalances themselves do not constitute a medical condition.

(E). The long-term effects of synthetic HGH have never been tested and are unknown.

OA is E

My first doubt - Is this paradox question or strengthen question ?
My second doubt - How can i eliminate D ? (A,B,C easy outs)

My analysis :- The physician says the researchers proposed study should be prohibited. The question is why the physician has this opinion. We have to answer this question.

Two conditions
(1) studies need to promise valuable information
(2) offer little patient risk.

Looks like strengthen if i see the argument in this way but after reading the question it seems to be paradox question type.

Looking forward to the replies
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by elias.latour.apex » Mon May 01, 2017 9:42 am
Critical reasoning questions should always be tackled by reading the question first. The question asks: Which of the following, if true, would most help to justify the physician's argumentation? This is a strengthen question. We are looking something to justify (support) the physician's conclusion.

What is the physician's conclusion? It is contained in the last line: The researcher's proposed study should be prohibited.

Why?

Because medical research should be permitted only if it is likely to reveal important information about a medical condition and is known to pose only a minimal risk to the subjects.

What's the assumption? Obviously the physician must think either that the research is unlikely to reveal important information about a medical condition or that the research is not known to pose only a minimal risk to the subjects.

Answer choice (D) seems tempting. The children's imbalance is not, in itself, a medical condition. However, the argument clearly states that the researcher in question wants to investigate diseases caused by hormonal imbalances. Accordingly, finding that the children do not have a disease/medical condition is irrelevant to the work of the researcher. He is investigating the condition of a third party by using the children for medical research.

Answer choice (E) is a better choice. Since the long-term effects of synthetic HGH have never been tested, we cannot say that it "is known to pose only a minimal risk to the subjects."

===================
Typically "paradox" style questions contain the word resolve or the word explain. In addition, they do not contain conclusions. Typically the two conflicting premises are set off with some sort of a contrast word. For example:

1) Mary is a professional dancer who dances 4 hours a day, but she is 30 kilos overweight.
2) Although Mary is a professional dancer who dances 4 hours a day, she is 30 kilos overweight.
3) Mary is a professional dancer. However, she is 30 kilos overweight.

Which of the following, if true, would best explain the discrepancy outlined above?
Which of the following, if true, would best resolve the apparent paradox?
Elias Latour
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by vinni.k » Tue May 02, 2017 11:45 am
Elias Latour,

Thanks :D