Critical Reasoning

2,500 individuals of voting age were polled and asked where they stood on the political spectrum. 78% of these individuals described themselves as "moderate" in their political views; however, in the national elections that most closely preceded and followed the poll, over half of the individuals polled voted for candidates far to one end of the political spectrum. It follows that these individuals did not accurately describe their political views.

Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument relies?

a. Individuals always characterize themselves in keeping with their actual political views.
b. There were no moderate candidates in the national elections preceding and following the poll.
c. Voters with moderate political views will not vote for candidates who do not express moderate political views.
d. Voters can be highly fickle, changing their political views in a relatively short period of time.
e.Many of the polled individuals did not understand what a moderate political view is, and so misdescribed themselves.

oa is c

I have been confronted with this one a couple of times and each time I haven't understood the official explanation. Can someone just explain this one in very layman terms?

What you are looking for is the link between the evidence and the conclusion.

The evidence is that 78% of people described themselves as moderates and more than half of those people voted for someone not moderate.

The conclusion is that these people lied about their political views.

How do we conclude that they lied? I mean they could be moderate and yet decide to vote for someone who was not exactly like them.

In fact the conclusion only really works if we assume that anyone who describes herself as "moderate" ONLY votes for moderates. Otherwise the conclusion would make no sense. The conclusion that people lied about their views is assuming that people only vote for someone with the same views. If a moderate can just as easily vote for a non-moderate then the conclusion is weakened. That is why the choice is C.

Let me know if that works for you or if you still have questions!

David

pareekbharat86 wrote:2,500 individuals of voting age were polled and asked where they stood on the political spectrum. 78% of these individuals described themselves as "moderate" in their political views; however, in the national elections that most closely preceded and followed the poll, over half of the individuals polled voted for candidates far to one end of the political spectrum. It follows that these individuals did not accurately describe their political views.

1. 78% people described themselves as moderate in political views , however more than 50% voted against this spectrum.

2. This means the candidates did not respond to these individuals accurately.


Which of the following is an assumption on which the above argument relies?

a. Individuals always characterize themselves in keeping with their actual political views.

The passage just tells us the opposite , majority are claiming themselves of moderate political views but in practical more than 50% are voting in favour of the other party.

b. There were no moderate candidates in the national elections preceding and following the poll.

This assumption to me is an assumption weakening the conclusion.

c. Voters with moderate political views will not vote for candidates who do not express moderate political views.

Absolutely True - We can reach this statement from the passage..

d. Voters can be highly fickle, changing their political views in a relatively short period of time.

May be true , we do not have sufficient information ...

If we consider this statement to be true - Then it will definitely not relate the conclusion with the premises...

This option can hence be negated.

e.Many of the polled individuals did not understand what a moderate political view is, and so misdescribed themselves.

Changing the direction , of the thought process , it is talking about the level of understanding of the people...


SO IMO (C) looks good , among the other options available....