PrepTest 123, Section 3, Question 14
Commentator: In academic scholarship, sources are always cited,(102 more words not shown)
The commentator's reasoning most closely(8 more words not shown)
- AWhatever software tools(21 more words not shown)
- BUniversities should use(25 more words not shown)
- CUniversities should choose(22 more words not shown)
- DThe form of(33 more words not shown)
- EA university should(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
I can see the comparison. Academic researchers tell us how they reached their results so other people can examine, challenge, and build on their work. Open-source software lets users look at and change the code. Both make the work available for others to use and improve.
But does that mean universities should use only open-source software? What if the program doesn't do what the university needs? A university might value openness and also want software that actually helps its students learn. And have we established that openness is the only academic value that matters here? The commentator moves awfully quickly from one appealing similarity to an across-the-board recommendation.
Those are reasons to question the argument. The question, though, asks for a principle that matches the commentator's reasoning. We need to capture the rule this person is using, even if we wouldn't adopt it ourselves.
What made open-source software the winner in the argument? Its fit with the values of scholarship.
What we’re looking for
Why do those values govern the university's choice? Scholarship is central to the university's mission. So I'd look for a rule that tells universities to choose their software by how well it matches the values of their central activities.
Working the answers
- A
Being the most advanced isn't the commentator's test. A sophisticated proprietary program could be more advanced than an open-source alternative, and the commentator would still favor the open-source program because of its fit with academic values. A gives us a different reason to choose software.
- B
Price comes up in the comparison: users can modify open-source software without paying the producer, while modifications to proprietary software require a fee. But the conclusion isn't based on finding the cheapest adequate product. It is based on matching academic values.
The adequacy condition is also something I might want before following the recommendation, but the commentator doesn't include it. B substitutes a sensible-sounding purchasing rule for the rule the argument actually uses.
- CCorrect
Follow the pieces. Scholarship is central to the university's mission. Open-source software is said to fit the values of scholarship better. This principle tells the university to choose the software that best fits those values, so it supports the choice the commentator makes.
We can still question whether the commentator has fully assessed academic values or considered other practical concerns. The task is to identify the principle behind this reasoning, and C captures its move from a match in values to a recommendation about what to use.
- D
Efficient for what? The argument doesn't compare how efficiently the programs work. It compares how well they match academic values. D adds the claim that the best match is also the most efficient, but it never gives us the commentator's rule that universities should choose software on that basis.
- E
We aren't told that proprietary software blocks the goals of scholarship. Fitting academic values less well isn't automatically the same as preventing academic goals from being achieved. To use E, we'd have to add that extra claim. The commentator instead goes directly from a better match in values to a recommendation.
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