A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some

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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some [#permalink]

10 May 2012, 07:43

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Question Stats:

48% (02:43) correct

51% (01:30) wrong

based on 2 sessions

This question is special because requires to know the differences between "most" and a "large number". Please confirm whether my reasoning is correct.

A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some short-comings to the questionnaire method. However, since I send a copy of the questionnaire to every home in the district, I believe the results are quite representative...I think the numbers received are so large that it is quite accurate even though the survey is not done scientifically."

The writer of the above statement makes which of the following assumptions:
(A) Most people who received the questionnaire have replied.
(B) Most people in the district live in homes.
(C) The questionnaire method of data collection is unscientific.
(D) The large number of replies means that a high proportion of those sampled have replied.
(E) A large, absolute number of replies is synonymous with accuracy.

OA is

[Reveal] Spoiler:

Yes, the OA is easy. But please confirm whether my process of elimination for the other choices was correct:
(A) Most people who received the questionnaire have replied.- The conclusion says that the author received a large number, but "large" doesn't necesarily mean "most". 1 million of answers is a large number but it could represent only 1% of the population. Therefore, "most" is not a required assumption. - WRONG
(B) Most people in the district live in homes.- Same as in A.
(C) The questionnaire method of data collection is unscientific. - If we use the negation technique: "IT IS NOT TRUE THAT the questionnaire method of data collection is unscientific". This new assumption doesn't weaken the conclusion. WRONG
(D) The large number of replies means that a high proportion of those sampled have replied. - Same as in A.
(E) A large, absolute number of replies is synonymous with accuracy. - BINGO

[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

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Re: A politician - Special question! [#permalink]

10 May 2012, 10:24

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Responding to a pm:

A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some short-comings to the questionnaire method. However, since I send a copy of the questionnaire to every home in the district, I believe the results are quite representative...

After reading this sentence, my first thought was: "Sending a copy to every home doesn't mean that every home participated and sent the questionnaire back. So the results may not be representative."

I think the numbers received are so large that it is quite accurate even though the survey is not done scientifically."

Here I thought: "It doesn't have anything to do with numbers actually. A large number of people did participate. But he is assuming that the survey is ACCURATE based on a large number of participants. Now there's an assumption. Point is, if we were trying to establish whether the results are representative, we could have debated on how many people replied from which strata etc. But the argument is actually trying to establish that the results are accurate based on a large number of replies. If you don't ask the right questions, you may not get the right answers, no matter how many people reply. Hence, the assumption is the connection between accuracy and number of people "

Remember, an assumption is a missing premise. This premise is necessary for the conclusion to be true. The argument needs to give us something like "If large number of people reply, the results are accurate." Since it doesn't, it is an assumption in this argument.
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Re: A politician - Special question! [#permalink] 10 May 2012, 10:24

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