A double-blind study, in which neither the patient nor the primary res

Question

A double-blind study, in which neither the patient nor the primary researcher knows whether the patient is being given the drug being tested or a placebo , is the most effective procedure for testing the efficacy of a drug.  But we will not be able to perform such a study on this new drug, since the drug will have various effects on the patients' bodies,  which will make us aware of whether the patients are getting the drug or a placebo.

The two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?

(A) The first is a general consideration that introduces the argument; the second is a special situation that weighs against the first.

(B) The first is a general principle that is necessary for this argument; the second is an anti-consideration that the argument includes.

(C) The first is a premise that this argument includes; the second is a main idea that can be drawn from this argument.

(D) The first is an evidence that this argument includes; the second is a conclusion that can not be drawn from this argument.

(E) The first is a general situation that supports this argument; the second is a conclusion that can be drawn from a special fact.

Paul · Answer

A) The first part is a premise of the argument, not a general consideration. Moreover, the second part is not a special situation; it is something that can be directly drawn from the first.
B) no principle at all here
D) the second CAN be drawn from the first because if neither the patient NOR the researcher knows what is being given, the risk of such an experiment is too high: this is confirmed by the second bold face portion
E) The first is just the premise of the argument, it does not support anything. Furthermore, the second can be drawn from the first as a whole; it is no special instance of the first (it does not need any special fact of the first as it is just a generalization from what the first bold face gives)

Geethu · Answer

A.

C - Second bold statement is not the main idea.

Paul · Answer

I totally disagree here. C is the main idea: the drug test will never be tested. This is what the central point of the excerpt is. Just a hint: Remove everything else except BF2 and you will see the main idea: We will not be able to perform those drug tests because the effects are unknown and risky. Now, remove everything except BF1: you have ONLY a brief description, a premise, of what the drug test is about. It is in no way the main idea of the passage since there is nothing suggested here. I am adamant about C 8-)

SigEpUCI · Answer

I'll go D, ill explain if correct.

Paul · Answer

there are no OA so all we can do is debate on this question

Sige, I don't agree with D. BF1 says that neither the patient nor the researcher knows what is being given. Can we not conclude from that that it is plain too risky to test the drug in question because the effects could be catastrophic if the wrong drug is given? Hence, can we not know the conclusion right from BF1? :shock:

SigEpUCI · Answer

After re-reading it, I agree with you Paul. C is the answer, as the conclusion is logically drawn.

I misread it to conclude that "no drug can be tested with a double blind study", not as "this drug (which supported by evidence) can be tested with a double blind study".

:lol:

mbagal1 · Answer

bumping up this old one for discussion again. I am going with A. I cannot see how C can be right. I think this is a special situation because the author talks about "this new drug".

ncp · Answer

The main idea is not that the drug will never be tested. The main idea is to show that the particular method od testing may not be viable for the drug. In my view the bf introduces the background for the argument and the second bf introduces a special case that weighs against the generalization made by the first.

I also believe A is a better answer.

stne · Answer

Long time no discussion on this one .
I will go with A 
there is no OA for this one, if somebody knows the OA then kindly post the same.
IF OA cannot be found then we will have to discuss and agree on what might be the answer.
Thank you, please do contribute.

GunjS · Answer

Hello Experts,

I am struggling with the terminologies in the BF questions. I have read all the notes provided by you guys and I am glad I got basic stuffs understood now. Thank you so much.

Unfortunately, my bad!! Even after reading the good stuffs, I still got stuck on the first practice question

I chose option B here. Could you please help me validate my answer. 
The first BF can be classified as Premise/Fact.(Can this also be called as Principle?)
The second BF - "Conclusion"
"which will make us..." - Claim

I marked option C because that is the only option which gels with my explanation above.

Please let me know if my understanding is correct or not.

PrachiMaloo · Answer

can anyone explain in brief why B is correct?

arya251294 · Answer

Hi Prachi, The word anti-consideration gave it away for me. See the BF1 is a general principle that we all can agree on, and, the BF2 starts with a but which gives a slight hint of "anti-" here and moreover BF2 tells us that please don't consider the approach as it might be flawed for this drug. Hope it helps.

rdrdrd1201 · Answer

what does Anti-consideration in B even mean?

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

Yeah +1, don’t know how to comprehend the meaning of anti-consideration. I have never met such a word before in any other BF questions. Anybody can explain?

idao · Answer

Anybody can explain why B is the answer?

A double-blind study, in which neither the patient nor the primary res

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A double-blind study, in which neither the patient nor the primary res

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