Exam LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning topic 1 question 223 discussion

Actual exam question from Test Prep's LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning

Question #: 223
Topic #: 1

[All LSAT Section 1 Logical Reasoning Questions]

As part of a survey, approximately 10,000 randomly selected individuals were telephoned and asked a number of questions about their income and savings.
Those conducting the survey observed that the older the person being queried, the more likely it was that he or she would refuse to answer any of the questions.
This finding clearly demonstrates that, in general, people are more willing when they are younger than when they are older to reveal personal financial information to strangers over the telephone.
The argument above is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that the argument

A. offers no evidence that the individuals queried would have responded differently had they been asked the same questions in years prior to the survey
B. fails to specify the exact number of people who were telephoned as part of the survey
C. assumes without warrant that age is the main determinant of personal income and savings levels
D. assumes from the outset what it purports to establish on the basis of a body of statistical evidence
E. provides no reason to believe that what is true of a given age group in general is also true of all individuals within that age group

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: A 🗳️
"The argument above is vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that" in the question stem is LSAT-speak for our old friend, the Logical Flaw question. When we read "the finding clearly demonstrates that" in the final sentence, we know we’ve found the conclusion: People are more willing when they are younger to reveal personal financial info to strangers in phone surveys. Notice how the conclusion compares the attitudes of young people with the attitudes of the same people once theyre older. But the evidence has a different scopethe surveyors are comparing different people to one another. It is this shift in scope that foils the argument. Maybe the older people who didnt want to give up their financial info would have felt the same way when they were younger, and the differences cited in the study are not due to aging but rather some fundamental difference in the age groups surveyed. Answer choice A. captures this perfectly; the evidence in the survey in no way supports the notion that the older info hoarders would have been more forthcoming earlier in life.

by [deleted] at March 9, 2025, 1:35 p.m.

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