PrepTest 103, Section 3, Question 6
First legislator: Medical research is predominantly done on(63 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- AGovernment-sponsored research is(8 more words not shown)
- BServing as a(20 more words not shown)
- CGovernment-sponsored medical research(13 more words not shown)
- DThe training of(11 more words not shown)
- ERestriction to males(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Why assume that studying men tells us everything we need to know about women?
The first legislator points to coffee research conducted only on men and missing research on hormone treatments for older women. Those examples illustrate the concern; by themselves they don't measure what proportion of all medical research excludes women. Still, the proposal is clear: require government-sponsored research to include studies of women.
I would want to know whether the findings apply equally to both groups. If they do, repeating a study might add little. But what if relevant biological differences change the findings or the treatment that works best? Then including women would matter to getting the science right, not just to balancing the numbers.
What we’re looking for
The second legislator dismisses male/female balance as having no place in science. The question asks for the most direct reply. My prediction is a scientific reason the patient groups matter: leaving women out could leave us without reliable information about them.
Working the answers
- A
This could support an argument about fairness to taxpayers, but we would need another step: everyone who pays should receive this particular research benefit. The second legislator's objection is that the consideration has no scientific place. A doesn't directly establish that including women improves the science itself.
- B
Benefits and risks matter to people deciding whether to participate in research. They don't answer whether collecting data only from men leaves the science inadequate. B describes a tradeoff for study participants without addressing the scientific relevance of including women.
- C
This could explain how research ends up with male-only patient groups: the institutions provide only male residents. Explaining how a practice arises doesn't show whether it is scientifically appropriate. We still need to know whether those groups are sufficient for the questions the research is supposed to answer.
- D
These are the scientists conducting the research, not the patients being studied. Equally trained male and female scientists could both work with a patient group that leaves important information missing. The scientists' training doesn't settle whether that group should include women.
- ECorrect
If restricting the patient base to men produces inadequate science, then including women has a scientific purpose. That directly answers the claim that male/female balance has no place in research.
My initial concern was that relevant differences could make the results incomplete. E supplies the broader point we need—that this restriction actually undermines the science—without requiring us to establish a particular biological mechanism. The reply works on the second legislator's own stated ground: what sound science requires.
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