Hello Rogyush,
Let me try helping you with this one.
I am guessing that the statements you got stuck with are 1 and 2. If I am wrong, please let me know I will help you further with the other statements.
Let us first analyze the premise and the conclusion. The argument comes to the conclusion that the most effective and precise surveying technique for determining the extent of income evasion in the United States is anonymous workplace survey. This conclusion is reached on the believes that this type of survey reaches the exact target group i.e. the workforce and that since people's identities are kept confidential, they will be more sincere with the survey.
We need to provide a point that provides criticism for this conclusion or argument.
Let us pre-analyze the argument. A great criticism for the argument would attack the two main premises for the argument i.e. the survey reaches the precise group of people- the workforce and people will not lie as they are sure that the data collected in the survey will remain anonymous.
Now, statement 2) tells us that some people might still lie for fear of being caught. However, notice the doubt in this case. The "some" might be .01% of workforce to 40 or more percentage of workforce. Hence, this does not give us concrete evidence or counterpoint against the argument.
However, the first option clearly states that a significant number of income tax evaders have no legal source of income or place of an employment. This implies that these people are not being covered in the survey at all and thus, the survey might be missing a major proportion of tax evaders in the calculation. This conclusively proves that the survey is not as effective as the argument would like us to believe.
Hope this helps! Let me know in case of any further queries/doubts.
roygush wrote:
The most effective and precise surveying technique for determining the extent of income tax evasion in the United States is an anonymous workplace survey. This type of survey precisely reaches the target group, individuals with an income, and, because those individuals do not provide names or personal information, confidentiality is assured. We can then create an accurate picture of the amount and distribution of income tax evasion in the United States.
Which of the following provides the most serious criticism of the argument above?
A.The plan overlooks the fact that a significant number of income tax evaders may have no legal source of income or place of employment.
B.The plan overlooks the fact that some people may lie for fear of being identified as tax evaders.
C.The plan does not distinguish between tax evasion and the legitimate use of tax loopholes.
D.The plan does not distinguish between tax evasion and the legitimate use of tax loopholes.
E.The plan's anonymity prevents government officials from identifying income tax evaders and prosecuting them.
Eliminated 3 choices on the first 30 seconds. then when had 2 left chose the wrong one.
I re-read the stem and still not sure about the reasoning behind it.
Can someone elaborate?