PrepTest 114, Section 2, Question 12
Several recent studies establish that most people would(29 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(5 more words not shown)
- AIn another recent(22 more words not shown)
- BPeople often do(9 more words not shown)
- CSome of the(9 more words not shown)
- DSome questions asked(19 more words not shown)
- EThe people surveyed(11 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
I'd want to know about a serious condition so I could decide what to do. But someone else might prefer not to know. My own reaction doesn't tell us how most people feel.
The reported figure sounds persuasive: in each study, over 80 percent said they would want to be told. At first, I read the opening as simply reporting what the studies found. The question asks us to weaken the argument, though, so we need to separate that response figure from the broader claim that the studies establish what most people want.
What we’re looking for
This is an EXCEPT question. Four answers should give us a reason to be less confident in that conclusion, and one should not. I don't yet have a particular defect to predict. Let's see what each answer actually does to the move from the survey responses to people's preferences.
Working the answers
- A
A study pointing the other way makes the overall claim less secure. If most respondents in another recent study said they would not want to be told, the earlier results no longer look like an uncontested picture of people's preferences. A doesn't prove that the first studies were wrong, but it gives us conflicting evidence to account for. That makes it a weakener, not the exception.
- B
What people report may differ from what they feel. If survey responses often fail to reveal true feelings, the reported 80-percent figure is a less reliable guide to what people actually want. B challenges the connection between the evidence collected and the conclusion drawn from it.
- CCorrect
This is a survey of preferences, not a test of the researchers' ability to diagnose or treat a condition. Some researchers lacking a medical background doesn't show that they asked poor questions, recorded the answers inaccurately or selected an unsuitable sample.
They might be perfectly capable of conducting this kind of survey. C gives us no particular reason to doubt the reported preferences, so it is the exception.
- D
The wording hints at which answer the surveyor considers reasonable. Compare asking, “Would you want to be told?” with asking, “Wouldn't a reasonable person want to be told?” The second version puts pressure on the respondent to give the approved answer.
Someone might say yes to avoid appearing unreasonable even while privately preferring not to know. That would make the results less reliable as a measure of genuine preferences. D therefore weakens the argument.
- E
All the respondents came from one narrow group: young students in introductory psychology courses. Their preferences might differ from those of older people or people with different backgrounds. The conclusion concerns most people, so limiting the studies to this group gives us a reason to question that broader application.
More Weaken questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Weaken questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.