#22 - Some people believe that saying that an organization

[mcassidy1]

Is this question an application of formal logic? I diagrammed it as BC -> H <-s-> OO (how an org operates)

[James Finch]

Hi M. Cassidy,

No, the first sentence doesn't actually tie into the conditional logic in that way. Instead, it should be seen as an argument by others ("some people believe") that the other propositions in the stimulus are effectively arguing against (although there isn't an explicit conclusion, we're being asked to draw one). So what is going on in this stimulus is that it is attempting to falsify the conditional statement that if an organization is hierarchical, then you know how it operates, implying that all hierarchical organizations operate the same way.

We're then given a conditional statement (BC H), followed by an example of an organization that fits the sufficient condition, allowing us to infer that it also fits under the necessary condition of being hierarchical. Lastly, we learn that this particular hierarchical organization doesn't operate like the majority of bureaucratic organizations, all of which are hierarchical. So what can we infer? Only that not all hierarchical organizations function the same way, thus invalidating the original conditional relationship that some people believe in, given in the first sentence.

Hope this clears things up!

[sraygo]

Okay so I answered E. Am I correct in assuming that this is incorrect because the language is too strong. ie. "nothing to do..."?
That being said, would C also be incorrect because of the strong language "nothing can be reliably concluded.."?
Or is it just that the answer to this question has to negate the first sentance?

[Dana D]

Hi Sraygo,

For MBT questions, very strong language is certainly an indicator and an answer choice may be incorrect. You can double check whether answer choice (E) or (C) are correct by asking yourself whether they actually must be true, or if they could be false without negating the stimulus.

For example, with answer choice (E) - it is possible that whether an organization is bureaucratically controlled has something to do with how that organization operates. At the very least, the stimulus itself told us that to know an organization is a bureaucratica means we also know it is hierarchical. So we just proved answer (E) doesn't have to be true - in fact, it's actually false.

Similarly, for answer choice (C) - saying an organization is hierarchical has meaning - it's not the same as saying an organization is "cornflower" or some other word with no context behind it. If I tell you an organization is hierarchial, you can generally assume there is a chain of command, with certain employees supervising others. Even just that one fact disproves answer choice (C).

Hope that helps!
Dana