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Flaw in The reasoning or Weaken Question?

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Flaw in The reasoning or Weaken Question?

by krazy800 » Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:00 am
I am not looking to get the answer to this question.

Looking at the question stem, I thought that the question asks us to point out the flaw in reasoning. OG 11 - Q 62 says its a weaken type of question in the explanation and went for OA D . Does any one share the same thoughts regarding question stem? can any one please help me understand the question stem better?



During the Second World War, about 375,000 civilians died in the United States and about 408,000 members of the United States armed forces died overseas. On the basis of those figures, it can be concluded that it was not much more dangerous to be overseas in the armed forces during the Second World War than it was to stay at home as a civilian.

Which of the following would reveal most clearly the absurdity of the conclusion drawn above?

(A) Counting deaths among members of the armed forces who served in the United States in addition to deaths among members of the armed forces serving overseas
(B) Expressing the difference between the numbers of deaths among civilians and members of the armed forces as a percentage of the total number of deaths
(C) Separating deaths caused by accidents during service in the armed forces from deaths caused by combat injuries
(D) Comparing D€@th rates per thousand members of each group rather than comparing total numbers of deaths
(E) Comparing deaths caused by accidents in the United States to deaths caused by combat in the armed forces.[/spoiler]

OA D
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by Robinmrtha » Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:13 pm
The question is asking you which of the following makes the argument absurd?
Here, ABSURD means as per the definition: illogical or inappropriate.
So the ques stem becomes
Which of the following would reveal most clearly the inappropriateness(weakness) of the conclusion drawn above?
Hope this helps....
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by krazy800 » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:32 am
Thanks Robin! Ok, as i get it 4m ur explanation.. the question stem is asking us to point out the weakness in the conclusion.

Here there are 2 issues

1) Pointing out weakness in the conclusion.
2) Weakening the conclusion.

aren't two question stems are different? I went with the opition B bcos I felt the argument falls in the first category. OG 11 (Q 62) says it falls under weaken the conclusion question type and the OA is D.


May be I am over thinking or missing something here .... can some one please clarify?
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by Robinmrtha » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:23 am
Maybe the question is asking for additional information that will point out its weakness....not the inherent weakness in the argument as with B....
And B does not point out the weakness....
Suppose total deaths are 1000
People in the country 1 million
People in war abroad 10000
Death in country 800
Death abroad in war 200
percentage of of deaths among civilians as a percentage of the total number of deaths is 80 percent
percentage of deaths among members of the armed forces as a percentage of the total number of deaths is 80 percent is 20 percent....
So, it actually somewhat supports the conclusion...
Hence its not the answer....
Actually when the deaths are calculated as per D...The percentage is less for civilian deaths and more for armed force...
This clearly weakens the argument....
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by Stacey Koprince » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:07 pm
Received a PM asking me to respond. The wording here is a little bit unusual, as is the format of the answers. The question stem is clearly saying that the conclusion is absurd - in other words, it's a bad conclusion because there is something absurd with the reasoning (that's part of what we need to figure out). It's asking us what information (given in the answers) would make this absurdity / flaw in the reasoning clear.

Also, when you mention:
1) Pointing out weakness in the conclusion.
2) Weakening the conclusion.
and ask whether these are different things - not really. If you point out the weakness with the conclusion, then you are in the act of weakening the conclusion. Same thing, really. :)

If you read what B says:
"Expressing the difference between the numbers of deaths among civilians and members of the armed forces as a percentage of the total number of deaths "

civilians as a percentage of total would be (dropping the zeroes to make it easier): 375/(375+408) = 47.9%
military as a % of total would be: 408/(408+375) = 52.1%
The difference between those two figures is: 52.1-47.9 = 4.2%
How does that figure point out a flaw in the conclusion?
You don't need to do these calcs with the real numbers during the test, but do think through the logic of it, with fake (easier) numbers if necessary.
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by micheal_kr » Sun May 15, 2016 11:15 pm
I think D is the right answer
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