PrepTest 138, Section 4, Question 9
In one study of a particular plant species,(38 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- AThe first study(18 more words not shown)
- BThe first study,(15 more words not shown)
- CThe second study(12 more words not shown)
- DThe first study(6 more words not shown)
- EThe focus of(20 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Same species, roughly the same area, but 70 percent patterned in one study and only 40 percent in the other. What changed?
The geographical overlap doesn't mean the researchers examined identical plants. Perhaps one group looked near a river and the other farther into the forest. Or perhaps one study took place in winter and the other in summer. If location within the area or season affects how many plants have patterned stems, that could explain the difference.
What we’re looking for
Those are guesses to investigate. We need a fact that explains a different proportion being reported as patterned, not merely a fact that the studies differed somehow. Keep asking: why would this difference make one study count a larger share of plants as having patterned stems?
Working the answers
- A
This resembles the seasonal possibility, but it gives us only overall abundance. More plants at one time of year doesn't tell us that a greater percentage has patterned stems. If both patterned and unpatterned plants become more numerous, the percentage could stay the same. We'd still have to add the connection that makes this seasonal fact explain 70 percent versus 40 percent.
- B
Information about other species doesn't explain the different percentages reported for this species. The first researchers could collect extra information while counting these plants in exactly the same way as the second researchers.
- C
A larger sample isn't automatically a larger or smaller percentage. Forty patterned plants out of 100 and 80 out of 200 both give 40 percent. Knowing that the second study included 15 percent more plants doesn't tell us why the share classified as patterned was lower.
- DCorrect
The studies used different standards for what counts as patterned. A plant with only a faint or limited marking might qualify under the first study's broader definition but not the second's narrower one. That gives us a direct reason for the first study to report a higher percentage.
We don't need the plants themselves to change with the seasons for this explanation to work. The classification can change. Plants that one study counts as patterned may be left out of that category by the other study.
- E
Having a different main focus doesn't tell us that the researchers used different definitions, missed patterns or made inaccurate counts. Both studies still collected information about patterned stems. To explain the discrepancy using E, we'd have to add a claim about how the change in focus affected the results.
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