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Statistician

by akhpad » Sat May 01, 2010 9:33 am
Source: Power Score GMAT CR Bible

Statistician: A financial magazine claimed that its survey of its subscribers showed that North Americans are more concerned about their personal finances than about politics. One question was: "Which do you think about more: politics or the joy of earning money?" This question is clearly biased. Also, the readers of the magazine are a self-selecting sample. Thus, there is reason to be skeptical about the conclusion drawn in the magazine's survey.

Each of the following, if true, would strengthen the statistician's argument EXCEPT:

(A) The credibility of the magazine has been called into question on a number of occasions.
(B) The conclusions drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved.
(C) Other surveys suggest that North Americans are just as concerned about politics as they are about finances.
(D) There is reason to be skeptical about the results of surveys that are biased and unrepresentative.
(E) Other surveys suggest that North Americans are concerned not only with politics and finances, but also with social issues.



OA: E

Please explain with explanation.
Last edited by akhpad on Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by grockit_andrea » Sat May 01, 2010 9:45 am
The statistician's conclusion is that there is reason to be skeptical of the magazine's claim that North Americans are more concerned about personal finances than about politics. Choices A through D all strengthen that claim in one way or another:

A. If the magazine isn't credible, it makes sense to be skeptical about its claim.
B. If magazine surveys in general are often disproved, there's a good chance that this one is questionable as well.
C. Evidence against the magazine's claim obviously strengthens the statistician's conclusion.
D. There is evidence already that the survey is based on a biased and unrepresentative group; this strengthens the assumption that such evidence is justification for skepticism.

That just leaves E, and since social issues are outside of our scope, that one's not a strengthener.
Andrea A.
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by akhpad » Sat May 01, 2010 10:05 am
Hi Andrea,

Thanks for quick reply.

Can you please explain little bit more about option A?

The credibility of the magazine has been called into question on a number of occasions.

It means that it was discussed many times against credibility? I am not sure. What credibility is referring to?
is credibility referring to "value"?
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by paddle_sweep » Sat May 01, 2010 10:30 am
What about answer choice 'B'?

It says 'The conclusion drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved'. But it's not clear as to what surveys were conducted and what the conclusion was? So,how can we rule out answer choice 'B'.

In my opinion, answer choice 'B' fits better compared with 'E'.

Cheers
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by akhpad » Sat May 01, 2010 10:41 am
paddle_sweep wrote:What about answer choice 'B'?

It says 'The conclusion drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved'. But it's not clear as to what surveys were conducted and what the conclusion was? So,how can we rule out answer choice 'B'.

Cheers
The "survey" word mention in the stimulus. It should refer to same.

The conclusion drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved. => It disproved => it was question/discussed many time because it might have certain ambiguity. I think so ....
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by paddle_sweep » Sat May 01, 2010 11:06 am
akhp77 wrote:
paddle_sweep wrote:What about answer choice 'B'?

It says 'The conclusion drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved'. But it's not clear as to what surveys were conducted and what the conclusion was? So,how can we rule out answer choice 'B'.

Cheers
The "survey" word mention in the stimulus. It should refer to same.

The conclusion drawn in most magazine surveys have eventually been disproved. => It disproved => it was question/discussed many time because it might have certain ambiguity. I think so ....
The "survey" word mention in the stimulus. It should refer to same. - So, could we take this as an assumption to be always true for all types of CR questions? Please let me know.
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by grockit_andrea » Sat May 01, 2010 11:19 am
akhp77 wrote:Hi Andrea,

Thanks for quick reply.

Can you please explain little bit more about option A?

The credibility of the magazine has been called into question on a number of occasions.

It means that it was discussed many times against credibility? I am not sure. What credibility is referring to?
is credibility referring to "value"?
"Credibility" in this context means reliability. If the magazine's credibility has been called into question, it means that the magazine's claims aren't reliable, and that therefore one would be right to question this claim.

As for B, it's presenting the possibility that magazine surveys in general aren't reliable. Remember, the conclusion here is only that we should be skeptical; strengthening that conclusion merely requires casting doubt on the magazine survey's claims, not completely disproving them. E doesn't have anything to do with the magazine survey's claims, since social issues are irrelevant to those claims. Therefore, E is the best choice.
Andrea A.
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by akhpad » Sun May 02, 2010 5:42 am
Thanks Andrea.
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