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22 May 2011, 12:45
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
57% (01:41) correct
43%
(01:52)
wrong
based on 244
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A researcher studying lawyers found that, on average, lawyers took more classes in philosophy as undergraduates than did members
of other professions. The research surmised that students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the researcher’s conclusion?
A. Many undergraduates who indicate that they intend to pursue a legal career are told by their advisers to take a philosophy course.
B. During a trial, lawyers use their knowledge of philosophical arguments to attempt to influence the jury.
C. Not all students who take philosophy classes as undergraduates become lawyers.
D. Lawyers are also more likely to have taken classes in public speaking and political science than are members of other professions.
E. The lawyers studied by the researcher indicated that taking philosophy courses gave them important insight into rhetoric and
arguments
of other professions. The research surmised that students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the researcher’s conclusion?
A. Many undergraduates who indicate that they intend to pursue a legal career are told by their advisers to take a philosophy course.
B. During a trial, lawyers use their knowledge of philosophical arguments to attempt to influence the jury.
C. Not all students who take philosophy classes as undergraduates become lawyers.
D. Lawyers are also more likely to have taken classes in public speaking and political science than are members of other professions.
E. The lawyers studied by the researcher indicated that taking philosophy courses gave them important insight into rhetoric and
arguments
23 May 2011, 01:50
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causal argument in play here.
philosophy ----. people become lawyers.
answer option doing a reversal of this will be the one.
lawyers ----> required to take philosophy.
A matches this perfectly well.
philosophy ----. people become lawyers.
answer option doing a reversal of this will be the one.
lawyers ----> required to take philosophy.
A matches this perfectly well.
Updated on: 24 May 2011, 04:11
Originally posted by IanStewart on 23 May 2011, 13:56.
Last edited by IanStewart on 24 May 2011, 04:11, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by IanStewart on 24 May 2011, 04:11, edited 1 time in total.
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retro
A researcher studying lawyers found that, on average, lawyers took more classes in philosophy as undergraduates than did members
of other professions. The research surmised that students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the researcher’s conclusion?
A. Many undergraduates who indicate that they intend to pursue a legal career are told by their advisers to take a philosophy course.
B. During a trial, lawyers use their knowledge of philosophical arguments to attempt to influence the jury.
C. Not all students who take philosophy classes as undergraduates become lawyers.
D. Lawyers are also more likely to have taken classes in public speaking and political science than are members of other professions.
E. The lawyers studied by the researcher indicated that taking philosophy courses gave them important insight into rhetoric and
arguments
of other professions. The research surmised that students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously undermines the researcher’s conclusion?
A. Many undergraduates who indicate that they intend to pursue a legal career are told by their advisers to take a philosophy course.
B. During a trial, lawyers use their knowledge of philosophical arguments to attempt to influence the jury.
C. Not all students who take philosophy classes as undergraduates become lawyers.
D. Lawyers are also more likely to have taken classes in public speaking and political science than are members of other professions.
E. The lawyers studied by the researcher indicated that taking philosophy courses gave them important insight into rhetoric and
arguments
This question doesn't make a lot of sense. First, there's an incomplete comparison in the question: "students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers." More likely than what? That sentence could mean two different things: "students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers than are students who don't take philosophy", or "students who take philosophy classes are more likely to become lawyers than they are to become something else". If this were a Sentence Correction question, we'd need to fix that sentence.
So it isn't even clear what conclusion we're trying to weaken. Second, the question is clearly designed to test reversal of causality - the researcher concludes that philosophy courses lead people to want to become lawyers, but it's just as possible that wanting to become a lawyer leads people to take philosophy courses - but the setup is flawed. The question is based on measuring a probability: the probability that someone in a philosophy class will become a lawyer. One completely natural way to assess that probability is to consider the percentage of philosophy students who go on to become lawyers. If you look at that percentage, then it makes no difference *why* the students took philosophy. If philosophy courses are very popular among people who want to become lawyers, then naturally one would expect, choosing a random philosophy student, that it is likely he or she will become a lawyer. It's only if you measure that probability in an unnatural way that the argument suffers from a reversal of causality error. That is, it's only if the conclusion is that "if someone randomly enrolls in a philosophy course, he or she will become more likely to then pursue a legal career than if he or she did not enroll in the philosophy course" that you have the reversal of causality error that this question is getting at.
It's not a good question. Where is it from?
