PrepTest 146, Section 1, Question 1
Grecia: The survey that we are conducting needs(45 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(7 more words not shown)
- ASurveys gathering information(18 more words not shown)
- BSurvey respondents should(13 more words not shown)
- CSensitive personal information(14 more words not shown)
- DSurveys should be(13 more words not shown)
- ESurveys should gather(17 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Asking people's ages makes sense if we want to compare employment across age groups. I might wonder whether everyone will answer accurately—some respondents might shave a few years off—but Grecia's basic connection is understandable. To study employment by age, we need age information.
Hidalgo suggests asking for a range instead. That could work, but Grecia's approach could also work. If someone answers '47,' the researchers can put that person in the forties group. If the person simply checks '40–49,' the researchers get the group directly. Asking for the exact age doesn't force them to report separate employment figures for every single age.
What we’re looking for
So why prefer Hidalgo's approach? His point is that the exact number is more detail than this survey needs. For the principle question, I'd look for a rule against collecting unnecessary detail. A rule favoring information already grouped for its intended use might also help. Either way, we need a reason to prefer the less specific question, not merely to show that it could work.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Don't collect more detailed personal information than the survey's purpose requires. Hidalgo says they don't need employment figures for every single age; ranges will do. Under A, that is a reason to ask for the ranges rather than collect an exact age they don't need.
- B
This resembles my initial concern about inaccurate survey answers, but Hidalgo doesn't make that argument. We aren't told respondents will answer an exact-age question inaccurately or that ranges would improve accuracy. We need to justify his stated reason for choosing ranges, not substitute a different objection to surveys.
- C
Even if age information is sensitive, a rule about secure storage doesn't tell us which age question to ask. We don't know that secure storage is unavailable, and Hidalgo doesn't base his preference on a difference in how the two kinds of answers would be stored.
- D
Permission to collect needed information doesn't explain why the survey should choose ranges instead of exact ages. The question is which approach Hidalgo recommends, not whether surveys should be allowed to gather information at all. D also doesn't discourage collecting unnecessary detail.
- E
Telling people how information will be used could accompany either approach. Researchers could explain the purpose and then ask for exact ages or ranges. This rule supplies a condition for gathering detailed information, but no reason that the age-range question is preferable here.
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