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655-705 Level|   Assumption|      
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 10 May 2012, 07:43
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E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

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55% (hard)

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60% (01:44) correct 40% (01:57) wrong based on 937 sessions

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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
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E.
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
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E
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 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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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 24 Dec 2013, 03:49
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While selecting E, you make another assumption...that the politician does NOT know that higher accuracy depends on "high proportion" of responses and not "large number" of responses........ However if you assume that the politician knows that for accuracy you need high proportion rather than large number, then answer A or D could be correct. Isn't it?...In that case how do we decide whether the politician knows it or not?

VeritasPrepKarishma
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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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 24 Dec 2013, 10:09
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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 LAST SENTENCE IS IMPORTANT- I think the numbers received are so large that it is quite accurate even though the survey is not done scientifically."

[b]Premise[/b] - Since the numbers received is large'''''
Counter premise - even though the survey is not done scientifically'''''''

CONCLUSION[/b]- The result is quite accurate.

New element in conclusion "accurate result'. To find the assumption- this new element has to be related to the premise. Hense one of the assumptions could be----[b]LARGE NUMBERS OF REPLIES MEANS THE RESULT IS ACCURATE..... ONLY 'E' MATCHES. HENCE CORRECT ANSWER.

The writer of the above statement makes which of the following assumptions:
(A) Most people who received the questionnaire have replied. CANNOT BE ASSUMED. It is given that numbers received is large.
(B) Most people in the district live in homes. NOT AN ASSUMPTION.
(C) The questionnaire method of data collection is unscientific. INCORRECT. ONLY THE survey is not done scientifically.
(D) The large number of replies means that a high proportion of those sampled have replied. CANNOT BE ASSUMED.
(E) A large, absolute number of replies is synonymous with accuracy. JOINS NEW TERM TO PREMISE.... CORRECT.....

THIS COULD BE CALLED A SLIGHTLY ABSTRACT METHOD...... :wink:


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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 30 Dec 2013, 23:53
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sayantanc2k
While selecting E, you make another assumption...that the politician does NOT know that higher accuracy depends on "high proportion" of responses and not "large number" of responses........ However if you assume that the politician knows that for accuracy you need high proportion rather than large number, then answer A or D could be correct. Isn't it?...In that case how do we decide whether the politician knows it or not?

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You are mistaken here. High proportion does not imply high accuracy. It may to an extent imply that data is representative provided the proportion of replies is similar from all strata of the society. Whether the questionnaire method gives accurate results depends on many other things such as the questions asked, what all they covered, whether the wording used was precise, whether people put in enough time to answer etc.

It doesn't matter how many people or what proportion of people participate in the questionnaire method. The results obtained may not be accurate.
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 04 Dec 2015, 02:32
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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.

I do not think the OA is foolproof. There are 2 premises here and the choices D and E each target the links between those premises and the conclusion.

Q is on the lips of the politician. So, in order to perform Negation Test of choice E, let's say somebody informs the politician that, "Sir, a large, absolute number of replies is NOT synonymous with accuracy."

He may reply, "But young man, a large, absolute number of replies, when clubbed with quite representative results, leads to accuracy w/o fail, isn't it?"

I just want to point out that, choice D is ALSO an assumption like choice E. Had the OA be D, the same thing could have been argued against that.

Experts please suggest. Where I am going wrong or overthinking?

Thanks.
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 05 Jan 2016, 01:07
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How did you to come to say that the point we are trying to establish is accuracy and not results being representative.



VeritasPrepKarishma
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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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 06 Jan 2016, 21:40
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binit
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.

I do not think the OA is foolproof. There are 2 premises here and the choices D and E each target the links between those premises and the conclusion.

Q is on the lips of the politician. So, in order to perform Negation Test of choice E, let's say somebody informs the politician that, "Sir, a large, absolute number of replies is NOT synonymous with accuracy."

He may reply, "But young man, a large, absolute number of replies, when clubbed with quite representative results, leads to accuracy w/o fail, isn't it?"

I just want to point out that, choice D is ALSO an assumption like choice E. Had the OA be D, the same thing could have been argued against that.

Experts please suggest. Where I am going wrong or overthinking?

Thanks.
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No, that is not correct. The politician does not assume (D).
He says: since I send a copy of the questionnaire to every home in the district, I believe the results are quite representative...
He does not say that since we got a large number of replies, the results are representative. He is assuming that sending the questionnaire to every household makes the result representative. But every household may not have participated in the survey so it is an assumption.
He is assuming that:
"sending questionnaire to everyone" means "representative results"
and
"large number of replies" means "accurate results"

Only (E) gives one of these relations.
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 06 Jan 2016, 22:02
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binit
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.

I do not think the OA is foolproof. There are 2 premises here and the choices D and E each target the links between those premises and the conclusion.

Q is on the lips of the politician. So, in order to perform Negation Test of choice E, let's say somebody informs the politician that, "Sir, a large, absolute number of replies is NOT synonymous with accuracy."

He may reply, "But young man, a large, absolute number of replies, when clubbed with quite representative results, leads to accuracy w/o fail, isn't it?"

I just want to point out that, choice D is ALSO an assumption like choice E. Had the OA be D, the same thing could have been argued against that.

Experts please suggest. Where I am going wrong or overthinking?

Thanks.
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Hi binit and akadmin,

Apart from the point being conveyed by VeritasPrepKarishma, the main point which struck me the time I went through the choices is..
what is an ASSUMPTION.
you do not have facts and based on some logic, you infer something that is necessary for an arguement to stand..

now the following points ..
    the politician has sent a questionnaire..
    he gets the replies..
    he is aware how many replies has he got..
    he says that a large number has replied..

so "(D) The large number of replies means that a high proportion of those sampled have replied." can be a fact but not assumption because the politician need not assume this as he has all the facts to verify it..

I hope it cleared a bit of air around the choice D
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How did you to come to say that the point we are trying to establish is accuracy and not results being representative.



VeritasPrepKarishma
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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As mentioned in my last post, there is an assumption made about data being representative as well. But none of the options provide that assumption. Option (E) provides the assumption made about accurate results and hence it is the answer.
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A politician wrote the following: "I realize there are some 07 Jan 2016, 03:37
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In the argument accuracy is being measured in terms of the numbers of questionnaire received. The number is an yardstick to measure accuracy in this case or that is what the author has assumed. The politician thinks because he received a large number of questionnaire the accuracy cannot be questioned even though the survey is not scientific. " Large number" out here implies to proportion while "most" refers to the greatest number of people.
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Type: Find the assumption

Conclusion: the numbers received are so large that it is quite accurate

(A) Most people who received the questionnaire have replied. - the truth of this statement does not help us understand whether there is a link between ''large number obtained from the survey'' and ''accuracy''.
(B) Most people in the district live in homes. - does not help us establish a link between ''large number obtained from the survey'' and ''accuracy''.
(C) The questionnaire method of data collection is unscientific. - does not help us establish a link between ''large number obtained from the survey'' and ''accuracy''.
(D) The large number of replies means that a high proportion of those sampled have replied. - does not help us establish a link between ''large number obtained from the survey'' and ''accuracy''.
(E) A large, absolute number of replies is synonymous with accuracy. - BINGO. (E) directly establishes a link between ''large number obtained from the survey'' and ''accuracy''. if this were not true, then the idea that ''the numbers received are so large that it (the questionnare) is quite accurate" will not hold. Therefore, (E) is the right answer choice.

PS: if you need any help with the CR/SC sections of the GMAT, please feel free to DM me.
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Narrowed it down to Option D and E by POE

Thanks to some overthinking eliminated E going by the logic assumptions are not explicitly mentioned in the passage!

Like they say gimmicks don't work!
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