Quantity vs. quality of education

When I read the stimulus, my thought process was similar to Kaplan. If we know that the people with higher educations have more books in general, and that their books contain a higher proportion of nonfiction than fiction, then that implies that people with higher educations tend to have more non-fiction books that people with limited educations. Before this hit me, I was torn between A and E.

If you read the two stipulations about education in the stimulus as both referring to quality, then I take it to mean that I just interpreted the question incorrectly. Thanks!

fltingley wrote:If you read the two stipulations about education in the stimulus as both referring to quality, then I take it to mean that I just interpreted the question incorrectly. Thanks!

fltingley, as written, the stimulus refers primarily to quantities, not qualities. Although "level of education" may strike you as a qualitative phrase, it's defined in the next sentence as "years of college and graduate school education" (which is quite measurable - 4 years, 7 years, etc.).

It's quite common for Critical Reasoning questions to involve inferences and comparisons about proportions and percentages relative to (possibly unknown) quantities. You can see that the problem's explanation appeals to that kind of reasoning. This question is a classic in that respect!

Thanks,
Andrew

A survey recently revealed a high correlation between a household's level of education and its library. Specifically, the more years of college and graduate school education received by the household's members, the more books in the household's library. The survey also indicated that the higher the education level of the household, the greater the percentage of books that are not works of fiction in its library.

Which of the following can be properly inferred from the survey results cited above?

a. People with a higher level of education prefer reading nonfiction to works of fiction. 1) We cannot infer reading habits from the information above. 2) We are talking about households, not people; and 3) we are inferring number of books, that are not fiction, not number of works of fiction. Paraphrase: If you are a PHD you more likely to own a greater percentage of BOOKS that are NOT fiction.=“Works of Fiction” So “Works” is Purely Superfluous or redundant. Based on this you can eliminate any inference on “Works”

b. Households with low education levels generally own more works of fiction than do
households with high education levels. 1) We are inferring number of Books not Works. OOS

c. Households with lower levels of education generally own more works of fiction than nonfiction.OOS. Works. OOS


d. The higher the education level of a household, the fewer works of fiction owned by the household. OOS.

e. Households with high education levels generally own more nonfiction books than do households with low education levels. We can only infer ownership of number of books that are not works of fiction.

Criticism of Question: A flaw in this question is the interplay of ownership and number of books in library. Does having books in one’s library necessarily mean that one owns them? “The survey also indicated that the higher the education level of the household, the greater the percentage of books that are not works of fiction in its library.” I don’t’ think we can infer ownership on the basis of this information. We can infer number of non-fiction books that are in a library. What if the books are on loan or just there temporarily?

A stronger wording of the correct answer has to be. “Households with high education levels generally prefer more nonfiction books than do households with low education levels.” On the basis of the information given, It is easier to prove preference of nonfiction books in a library than to prove ownership. If a phD does not prefer nonfiction books, he probably wouldn’t allow them to take up his library space, especially if they are many. But the same PHD would take in those books temporarily as long he prefers them, even if he does not own them: He can use them for research, they may save him some money, and he may eventually own them. Preference is stronger here than ownership on the basis of the information in this passage.

fltingley wrote:A survey recently revealed a high correlation between a household's level of education and its library. Specifically, the more years of college and graduate school education received by the household's members, the more books in the household's library. The survey also indicated that the higher the education level of the household, the greater the percentage of books that are not works of fiction in its library.

Which of the following can be properly inferred from the survey results cited above?

a. People with a higher level of education prefer reading nonfiction to works of fiction.
b. Households with low education levels generally own more works of fiction than do households with high education levels.
c. Households with lower levels of education generally own more works of fiction than nonfiction.
d. The higher the education level of a household, the fewer works of fiction owned by the household.
e. Households with high education levels generally own more nonfiction books than do households with low education levels.

The answer, according to Kaplan, is E.]

I received a PM asking me to explain why A should be eliminated.

The question is asking for an inference: what MUST BE TRUE based upon the limited information in the passage.

Answer choice A is outside the scope. The passage does not mention whether any of the books are READ, nor does it mention what types of books people PREFER. Eliminate A.

We know only the following:
The more years of college and graduate school education received by the household's members, the MORE BOOKS in the household's library.
The higher the education level of the household, the GREATER THE PERCENTAGE of books that are NOT works of FICTION in its library.

Answer choice E is supported by this limited information: MORE BOOKS + GREATER PERCENTAGE OF NON-FICTION BOOKS = MORE NON-FICTION BOOKS.

The correct answer is E.

I some how fell for D... E is good.. A talks about preference

Hi Mitch,

What exactly is wrong with option D?

abhimanyu.tanwar wrote:Hi Mitch,

What exactly is wrong with option D?

From the passage: The more years of college and graduate school education received by the household's members, THE MORE BOOKS in the household's library.

Answer choice D contradicts this statement: The higher the education level of a household, the FEWER works of fiction.

Since households with higher education levels have MORE books overall, we cannot conclude that these households have FEWER works of fiction.

Don't be misled by the following statement from the passage: The higher the education level of the household, the greater the PERCENTAGE of books that are not works of fiction in its library. This statement tells us nothing about the NUMBER of fiction books in these households. These households likely have MORE of BOTH types of books.