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The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
 18 Jan 2010, 07:28
Question Stats:
29% (01:49) correct
70% (01:02) wrong based on 10 sessions
The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) in a large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO’s in those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded that CEO’s in general tend to be older now. Which of the following casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above? (A) The dates when the CEO’s assumed their current positions have not been specified. (B) No information is given concerning the average number of years that CEO’s remain in office. (C) The information is based only on companies that have been operating for at least 20 years. (D) Only approximate information is given concerning the average age of the CEO’s 20 years ago. (E) Information concerning the exact number of companies in the sample has not been given.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
18 Jan 2010, 13:53
is it E?
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
18 Jan 2010, 14:15
OA is But I need the logic myself. I choose wrong answer myself.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
18 Jan 2010, 14:35
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SudiptoGmat wrote: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) in a large sample of companies is 57. The average age of CEO’s in those same companies 20 years ago was approximately eight years younger. On the basis of those data, it can be concluded that CEO’s in general tend to be older now.
Which of the following casts the most doubt on the conclusion drawn above?
(A) The dates when the CEO’s assumed their current positions have not been specified. ---> Doesnt matter
(B) No information is given concerning the average number of years that CEO’s remain in office. ---> What if some CEO assumed the rank after 60 or 40 and stayed for 1/10 year?? Not strong enough
(C) The information is based only on companies that have been operating for at least 20 years.
(D) Only approximate information is given concerning the average age of the CEO’s 20 years ago. --> Clearly out
(E) Information concerning the exact number of companies in the sample has not been given. --> Clearly out
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
18 Jan 2010, 15:36
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You have to show that in fact CEOs aren't getting older. Good way to do it is to attack the evidence - that is the survey of 57 companies. Maybe these companies are not representative of market in general, so we cannot deduce the general trend based solely on these companies.
(C) does exactly the same - if the survey includes only the companies with history of 20 years or more, it cannot be representative of all companies and cannot describe general trend.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
18 Jan 2010, 17:07
Thanks buddy for such a good explanation
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
19 Jan 2010, 07:56
agree with the above
E could have been a strong contender if there were no such words like "large sample" in the 1st sentence and "those same companies" in the 2nd
thanks
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
08 Oct 2010, 19:32
the word 'general' should trigger that data for 57 companies cannot be generalised and hence option C is correct.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
08 Oct 2010, 23:51
its c
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
09 Oct 2010, 01:14
good question, C makes sense
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
09 Oct 2010, 03:23
Got it right but i had solved it earlier too.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
09 Oct 2010, 10:33
I was between B and C and choose the wrong one.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
09 Oct 2010, 11:42
I chose C. shalva wrote: You have to show that in fact CEOs aren't getting older. Be careful, you missed a few words. They actually get older in these surveyed companies, but the conclusion talks about "in general". The trick as you stated is to attack the evidence, and show that the data is flawed.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO’s) [#permalink]
09 Oct 2010, 13:30
Fell for B  Should be careful when conclusions are drawn on the basis of some data...
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 21:45
Why can't the answer be a? Suppose a CEO was assigned to current designation several years ago, then one cannot say that he took this position when he was old. IMO both a and c are top contenders. Please correct me if I am wrong
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 22:15
siddharthasingh wrote: Why can't the answer be a? Suppose a CEO was assigned to current designation several years ago, then one cannot say that he took this position when he was old.
IMO both a and c are top contenders.
Please correct me if I am wrong Even if there are many such cases (the CEO has been the same for the last 20 yrs), it still doesn't weaken our conclusion. Our conclusion is that CEO’s in general tend to be older now. It doesn't matter why the CEOs are older now. The conclusion says that they are older and that's true even if the CEOs have grown old while on the CEO chair. On the other hand, option (C) says that the conclusion is being drawn on a sample of a particular type of companies. This means you cannot generalize whatever you observe in the sample. Hence it weakens our conclusion that CEO’s in general tend to be older now.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 22:37
Doesn't the premise means that companies are appointing older CEOs now? If yes, then a surely weakens the argument.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 22:43
siddharthasingh wrote: Doesn't the premise means that companies are appointing older CEOs now? If yes, then a surely weakens the argument. No. The argument only says that CEOs tend to be older now. It is not the same as 'companies are appointing older CEOs now.'
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 22:58
Then I agree with C, but I still feel A is a contender. My explanation: Suppose the survey companies analyse the age of CEOs.The sample consists of 100 CEOs among whom 80 were made the CEO at the age of 45. Now these CEOs are now aged 57, but still can you say that now a days CEOs are getting older. Obviously not!
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a [#permalink]
03 Oct 2012, 23:18
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siddharthasingh wrote: Then I agree with C, but I still feel A is a contender.
My explanation: Suppose the survey companies analyse the age of CEOs.The sample consists of 100 CEOs among whom 80 were made the CEO at the age of 45. Now these CEOs are now aged 57, but still can you say that now a days CEOs are getting older. Obviously not! We are talking about 2 points in time. 20 yrs back the avg age was 40. Today the avg age is 60. The CEOs are definitely getting older. The point is not why they are getting older. The company has retained a 60 yr old for the top position. It has not brought in a young gun. They have the freedom to bring in a new guy whenever they desire. It doesn't matter why the company has retained the old guy - his experience or his performance whatever. What matters is that at this point, its CEO is a 60 yr old and the company is fine with it. It is not a lifetime position awarded to the CEOs. If, on average, the companies are happy with the older lot, it means the CEOs are getting older now.
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Re: The average age of chief executive officers (CEO s) in a
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