A recent study indicated that most Laconian police are below forty years of age. Some attribute this to the fact that Laconian police salaries are not sufficient for families with teenage children. An alternative explanation is that Laconian police have to serve for twenty years to receive government pensions, and by the time they are forty most of them become eligible for this pension and retire.
Knowing which of the following would best help choose between the two explanations offered in the argument above?
(A)Whether the proportion of police who are at least 40 years old varies significantly among different departments of the police force in Laconia.
(B)Whether a significant proportion of Laconian police leave the force because they consider it dangerous to continue serving after they turn forty, when they are no longer as physically fit as they were.
(C)Whether the majority of police officers who are older than 40 entered the force at a significantly older age than did those who had resigned by the time they were 40.
(D)Whether most of those who join the Laconian police force do so to earn money or because they consider it prestigious.
(E)Whether police officers who continue to serve in the Laconian police force after they turn 40 have more promotional opportunities than their younger colleagues have.