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- Thu May 05, 2016 5:30 pm
#23986
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A)
The college professor’s argument contains several potential weaknesses. Your job is to isolate an answer choice that correctly identifies one of them.
Answer Choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The professor concludes that all college students are poorer writers than were their predecessors based solely on a sample of several papers written by her students. This argumentative technique is only valid when the sample used is “representative,” or both randomly selected from the entire student population and sufficiently large. We have no data, however, to determine that the students who submitted papers to the professor were randomly selected; if anything, it is likely that those students chose to write papers for the professor due to their shared traits, such as geographical location and choice of major. Furthermore, we do not know how many students submitted papers to the professor. Until more data confirms the fact that the sample used by the professor was representative, this argument cannot be said to be valid.
Answer Choice (B): This incorrect answer choice is tempting because it comes close to addressing another error in the professor’s argument that is related to the subjectivity of what constitutes “good writing.” Realize, however, that it is entirely possible for a professor who is a poor judge of writing ability to have a teaching assistant who is an excellent judge of writing ability and who coincidentally happens to be responsible for correcting student papers. In such a case, the professor could identify her students’ papers as being poorly written while not having to be an accurate judge of writing ability.
Answer Choice (C): This question is concerned not with the students’ knowledge of the subject (which could be affected by the professor’s teaching ability), but rather with their ability to write well about the things that they learned. The professor’s teaching ability has nothing to do with her students’ “ungrammatical” papers.
Answer Choice (D): Failure to present contrary evidence is never an error.
Answer Choice (E): Ask yourself which term in the professor’s argument is insufficiently defined and add a better definition to the question. The professor’s argument, a generalization about the total population based on data gathered from a sample, will never be affected by this addition.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (A)
The college professor’s argument contains several potential weaknesses. Your job is to isolate an answer choice that correctly identifies one of them.
Answer Choice (A): This is the correct answer choice. The professor concludes that all college students are poorer writers than were their predecessors based solely on a sample of several papers written by her students. This argumentative technique is only valid when the sample used is “representative,” or both randomly selected from the entire student population and sufficiently large. We have no data, however, to determine that the students who submitted papers to the professor were randomly selected; if anything, it is likely that those students chose to write papers for the professor due to their shared traits, such as geographical location and choice of major. Furthermore, we do not know how many students submitted papers to the professor. Until more data confirms the fact that the sample used by the professor was representative, this argument cannot be said to be valid.
Answer Choice (B): This incorrect answer choice is tempting because it comes close to addressing another error in the professor’s argument that is related to the subjectivity of what constitutes “good writing.” Realize, however, that it is entirely possible for a professor who is a poor judge of writing ability to have a teaching assistant who is an excellent judge of writing ability and who coincidentally happens to be responsible for correcting student papers. In such a case, the professor could identify her students’ papers as being poorly written while not having to be an accurate judge of writing ability.
Answer Choice (C): This question is concerned not with the students’ knowledge of the subject (which could be affected by the professor’s teaching ability), but rather with their ability to write well about the things that they learned. The professor’s teaching ability has nothing to do with her students’ “ungrammatical” papers.
Answer Choice (D): Failure to present contrary evidence is never an error.
Answer Choice (E): Ask yourself which term in the professor’s argument is insufficiently defined and add a better definition to the question. The professor’s argument, a generalization about the total population based on data gathered from a sample, will never be affected by this addition.