Critical Reasoning

Women make up a larger proportion of workers in the information services industry than they did ten years ago. This is partly due to the fact that in 1985, only 7 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry, but in 1995, over 16 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry.

In evaluating the argument above, it would be most useful to compare 1985 and 1995 with regard to which of the following characteristics?

A) The percentage of women in the workforce who were not employed in the information services industry

B) The percentage of women who are now retired who have worked in the information services industry

C) The percentgae of women who have been promoted to managerial positions within the information services industry

D) The percentage of men in the workforce who were employed in the informaition services industry

E) The percentage of men who will soon be eligible for employment in the information services industry


OAD
Source : PrincetonReview

I dun agree with the OA.. my reasoning is ...
1985 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 7 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 90%
# of men in workforce = 10... so 9 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 7/16 ( arnd 40%?)

1995 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 16 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 5%
# of men in workforce = 1,000,000... so 50,000 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 16/50,016 ( arnd 0%?)

so even tho the % of men goes up or down, using the number of men in the workforce (& # of women in the workforce) i can manipulate the result either way... so how would this be useful in determining whether or not the proportion of women in the info serv industry has inc or dec ?

rohit_gmat wrote:Women make up a larger proportion of workers in the information services industry than they did ten years ago. This is partly due to the fact that in 1985, only 7 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry, but in 1995, over 16 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry.

In evaluating the argument above, it would be most useful to compare 1985 and 1995 with regard to which of the following characteristics?

A) The percentage of women in the workforce who were not employed in the information services industry

B) The percentage of women who are now retired who have worked in the information services industry

C) The percentgae of women who have been promoted to managerial positions within the information services industry

D) The percentage of men in the workforce who were employed in the informaition services industry

E) The percentage of men who will soon be eligible for employment in the information services industry


OAD
Source : PrincetonReview

I dun agree with the OA.. my reasoning is ...
1985 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 7 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 90%
# of men in workforce = 10... so 9 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 7/16 ( arnd 40%?)

1995 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 16 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 5%
# of men in workforce = 1,000,000... so 50,000 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 16/50,016 ( arnd 0%?)

so even tho the % of men goes up or down, using the number of men in the workforce (& # of women in the workforce) i can manipulate the result either way... so how would this be useful in determining whether or not the proportion of women in the info serv industry has inc or dec ?

The question talks about women making a larger proportion in the industry. While the precentage of women workers have increased. the proportion will also have a high connection with the inc/dec in ?age of men working!

Hence[spoiler][/spoiler]

rohit_gmat wrote:Women make up a larger proportion of workers in the information services industry than they did ten years ago. This is partly due to the fact that in 1985, only 7 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry, but in 1995, over 16 percent of women in the workforce were employed in the information services industry.

In evaluating the argument above, it would be most useful to compare 1985 and 1995 with regard to which of the following characteristics?

A) The percentage of women in the workforce who were not employed in the information services industry

B) The percentage of women who are now retired who have worked in the information services industry

C) The percentgae of women who have been promoted to managerial positions within the information services industry

D) The percentage of men in the workforce who were employed in the informaition services industry

E) The percentage of men who will soon be eligible for employment in the information services industry


OAD
Source : PrincetonReview

I dun agree with the OA.. my reasoning is ...
1985 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 7 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 90%
# of men in workforce = 10... so 9 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 7/16 ( arnd 40%?)

1995 : # of women in workforce = 100 .. so 16 women in Info Serv Industry
& of men in workforce working for Info serv industry = 5%
# of men in workforce = 1,000,000... so 50,000 men in Info Serv Industry
so women are 16/50,016 ( arnd 0%?)

so even tho the % of men goes up or down, using the number of men in the workforce (& # of women in the workforce) i can manipulate the result either way... so how would this be useful in determining whether or not the proportion of women in the info serv industry has inc or dec ?

The question talks about women making a larger proportion in the industry. While the precentage of women workers have increased. the proportion will also have a high connection with the inc/dec in ?age of men working!

HenceD

Got a PM on this one...

This is based on an official GMAT question. This one has been adjusted slightly from the original.

This question is written with D as the intended answer.

The set up of this is meant to work out the way that vaibhavgupta has mentioned above. The premise tells us that we have an increased percentage of the women in the workforce no working in information services. So if the question were "does a larger percentage of women work in the information services out of the total female workforce?

But we are trying to figure out if the following is true: # of women in the service industry / # Total workers in the service industry ...has increased.

Just knowing that service industry workers are a larger proportion of total women workers does not mean that as compared with the past women are better represented in the service industry. Specifically, we need to know how much the percentage of men who in the service industry is increasing.

So, the percentage of all women workers that is represented by women in the information service industry has increased from 7 percent to 16 percent. So let's say that the number of women has increased as well as the percentage. But what about the number of men? If the men have increased substantially as well the women may not comprise a larger percentage of information service industry employees.

So D is the answer we are looking for.

David@VeritasPrep wrote:So, the percentage of all women workers that is represented by women in the information service industry has increased from 7 percent to 16 percent. So let's say that the number of women has increased as well as the percentage. But what about the number of men? If the men have increased substantially as well the women may not comprise a larger percentage of information service industry employees.

So D is the answer we are looking for.

Hi David,
Thanks for the response. I agree that the knowing the number of men working in the information service industry in 1985 & 1995 is useful.

But I still don't see how the % of men in the workforce is going to give us the "actual number". Aren't these kinda flaws the ones we are supposed to be looking out for when we deal with CR Qs?
Or am I just simply thinking too much?

I would not say that you need the actual number. What you need is something that will indicate whether it is likely that women do make up a larger proportion of information service workers.

You do not need the actual numbers! You just need the answer choice that most helps you to evaluate whether the evidence is good.

I would not say that you are over thinking, but perhaps you are looking for something too exact here. You just need something to help you see if the conclusion is more likely to be true or less likely and D would do that.

Clear D, must be a 500 level question!