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A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio

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A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 08 Jul 2017, 06:44
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A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

(A) People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.

(B) The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.

(C) Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.

(D) Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.

(E) Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.

GMATPrep Code : VCR005617

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The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results.

I wanted to ask you about other potential weakeners:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications.
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B

Originally posted by 12bhang on 21 Jul 2013, 21:44.
Last edited by BillyZ on 08 Jul 2017, 06:44, edited 5 times in total.
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   22 Jul 2013, 03:44
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12bhang wrote:
A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.


The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results.

I wanted to ask you about other potential weakeners:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications.


Good inputs from the community members so far. Let me add my two cents.

First of all, we need to understand what a weakener can or cannot attack. A weakener cannot attack the information given i.e. premises. So, if it is given that the study found that both drugs and meditations techniques are equally effective when followed over the long run, we cannot say directly "No. They are not equally effective when followed over the long run". However, what we can do is that we can list a flaw in the methodology of the research in finding the effectiveness of drugs and meditation techniques.

Similarly, if it is given that the study found x% people kept using drugs and y% kept using meditation techniques, we cannot say "No. less than x% used drugs OR less than y% used meditations techniques". However again, what we can do is find a flaw in the methodology used to arrive at the numbers or as this question does - make the numbers irrelevant by suggesting that the initial sample for the study was not representative.

Now, coming back to the weakeners suggested:

1. Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long. - This is not a weakener. The conclusion is comparison between drugs and meditation techniques - who is the best one out there? (Remember, the conclusion is finding out the best between the two; not finding the one that cures. May be none of them cures completely). This option statement only talks about meditation techniques and suggest that they cannot cure. However, what about drugs? Can they cure? More importantly, can drugs cure better than meditation techniques? This statement does not suggest anything in this regard.

2. The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms - Not a weakener. We are given that both drugs and meditation techniques are equally effective. This presents information that goes against the information given.

3. The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications - Not a weakener. Goes against the passage. The passage does not differentiate between the duration of drugs and of meditation techniques.

Hope this helps :)

Thanks,
Chiranjeve
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   21 Jul 2013, 23:24
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First as you say: "The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results."

The correct answer
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
shows that the data on which the conclusion is based on is not reliable, so the whole conclusion is weakened.

12bhang wrote:
The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results.

I wanted to ask you about other potential weakeners:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications.


1)"Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results" => so the 5 year comparison is not relevant in terms of results. (the mediation will have none)
"but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long."=> my main concern here is the wording. The passage talks about clear percentages (50% and 80%), if "most people" were replaced with a percentage, and "likely" were removed, then this could be a weakener.

2)Not a good weakener. We do not know weather blood pressure disappears if the symptoms are gone, or remains nonetheless.

3)The "recommended duration" of the treatment is not relevant. We cannot infer something like "recommended duration"==>"duration necessary to see benefits".
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   22 Jul 2013, 00:05
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12bhang wrote:
A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.


The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results.

I wanted to ask you about other potential weakeners:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications.


Hi 12bhang

Thanks for raising good questions!

In order to "evaluate" your potential options, let analyze the original stimulus first:

ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:

Fact: meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective to treat high blood pressure if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term.
Fact: Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later.
Conclusion: The meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.

Assumption: The more people use the selected treatment for long term, the better results the selected treatment produces.

To weaken the conclusion, you need to show that more people use meditation for long time is not because the treatment produces better results. (probably, because people like using it, or are willing to follow....)

YOUR POTENTIAL OPTIONS:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.
This options wants to say almost people cannot follow the meditation techniques until it shows results. Does it weaken the conclusion?
- In order to weaken the conclusion, you should demonstrate "more people following the treatment does not mean the treatment is the best". However, this option just shows that almost people cannot follow the treatment. The "good" weakener is the one which still sticks to the stimulus (people are able to follow the treatment for long term - the first sentence clearly says "a study found that....") and show the weakness of the conclusion. This option, however, says "people cannot follow.." ==> It violates the stimulus. So I would say this option is not a weakener per GMAT standards.
- In addition, GMAT hardly considers an extreme option (option with most, almost, all, every...) a correct answer.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.
Does not help to weaken the conclusion, because it's out scope. The fact that "people discontinued their meditation because they were relieved.." does not attack the conclusion at all.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years, almost twice as long as that of medications.
This option is also not a weakener. This option does not attack the point "The more people use the selected treatment for long term, the selected treatment is the best". It just says how long each treatment will take. what if meditation is "really" good, so a lot of people will follow it for 10 years. Otherwise, drugs even take half time, but produce worst result, so a lot of people discontinue using them. ==> If that's the case (meditation is actually better than drugs), (3) cannot be a weakener.

Hope it helps.
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2014, 18:14
egmat wrote:
12bhang wrote:
A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.


The conclusion states that since people who choose meditation are less likely to abandon it, meditation is the one likely to produce better results.

I wanted to ask you about other potential weakeners:

1) Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long.

2)The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms.

3) The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications.


Good inputs from the community members so far. Let me add my two cents.

First of all, we need to understand what a weakener can or cannot attack. A weakener cannot attack the information given i.e. premises. So, if it is given that the study found that both drugs and meditations techniques are equally effective when followed over the long run, we cannot say directly "No. They are not equally effective when followed over the long run". However, what we can do is that we can list a flaw in the methodology of the research in finding the effectiveness of drugs and meditation techniques.

Similarly, if it is given that the study found x% people kept using drugs and y% kept using meditation techniques, we cannot say "No. less than x% used drugs OR less than y% used meditations techniques". However again, what we can do is find a flaw in the methodology used to arrive at the numbers or as this question does - make the numbers irrelevant by suggesting that the initial sample for the study was not representative.

Now, coming back to the weakeners suggested:

1. Meditation takes more than 10 years to show results , but most people who practice meditation are unlikely to continue for so long. - This is not a weakener. The conclusion is comparison between drugs and meditation techniques - who is the best one out there? (Remember, the conclusion is finding out the best between the two; not finding the one that cures. May be none of them cures completely). This option statement only talks about meditation techniques and suggest that they cannot cure. However, what about drugs? Can they cure? More importantly, can drugs cure better than meditation techniques? This statement does not suggest anything in this regard.

2. The people who discontinued their medication treatment did so because they were relieved of their symptoms - Not a weakener. We are given that both drugs and meditation techniques are equally effective. This presents information that goes against the information given.

3. The recommended duration for meditation is 10 years,almost twice as long as that of medications - Not a weakener. Goes against the passage. The passage does not differentiate between the duration of drugs and of meditation techniques.

Hope this helps :)

Thanks,
Chiranjeve


Hi,

This is still a little confusing.

I chose A because of the following reasons:

- Argument states that meditation is the one to produce the best results.

Option A states that "diet works to reduce the severity, in turn, affecting the "results"" -- why is that not enough to weaken it?

I can see that B weakens it too but I feel like both of these statements weaken -- one add's another treatment and another creates a flaw in the current reasoning. Aren't they both weakeners?
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   18 Dec 2014, 21:40
Even I felt that A is good. But B is better. Because B is a weakener related to meditation(given in premise). But A is introducing new one, diet(say out of scope). That's y I opted B to A.. Its not always the right answer in GMAT. But its always the best one... So if you feel there are two or more right answers, choose the best among them..
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   06 Sep 2015, 00:02
russ9 wrote:

Hi,

This is still a little confusing.

I chose A because of the following reasons:

- Argument states that meditation is the one to produce the best results.

Option A states that "diet works to reduce the severity, in turn, affecting the "results"" -- why is that not enough to weaken it?

I can see that B weakens it too but I feel like both of these statements weaken -- one add's another treatment and another creates a flaw in the current reasoning. Aren't they both weakeners?


I eliminated A with this reasoning -
Diet reduces the severity of the condition.. hypothetically, may be from 9 to 8 or 8.5 (on a scale of 10). we do not have this info.
so meditation treatment might still produce the best results. Hence A does not weaken the conclusion.
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   01 Jan 2017, 09:27
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A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

If we are to derive a conclusion from a study, then the participants of the study should be unbiased. An option that shows that the sample space was skewed will weaken the argument.

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition. If we want to use 'the change in diet' as an option to weaken the argument, then we need to show that 'change in diet plan' is more effective than the meditation; the option only mentions that the change in diet reduces the severity of the condition and establishes no relative performance on effectiveness.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques. The sample space was biased.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure. We are dealing with people having high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians. Whether some of the participants were physicians don't change anything let alone weakening the argument.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition. OFS

Option B
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   26 Mar 2017, 09:21
I got it wrong. selected A over B.

after going through the explanation given by other members, B looks better as A talks about reducing severity of the condition, while we need an option, which says meditation is not the best solution
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   17 Jun 2019, 10:27
Hi,

Can anyone please tell me why C is incorrect?

Thanks in Advance
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   19 Jun 2019, 11:33
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Hi Priyanka2018

C cays: C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.

The conclusion is that the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results. Why? Because More people seem to maintain the routine of meditation as directed by their doctors. The problem is, however, that the high percentage of meditation enthusiasts is not representative of population as such people have been from the beginning determined to stay in the pursuit.

As for C, even though meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure (probably a bad thing), meditation as a treatment can still bring the best results.

Hope this helps
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   27 Jun 2019, 13:14
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Priyanka2018 wrote:
Hi,

Can anyone please tell me why C is incorrect?

Thanks in Advance

Both the conclusion of the passage ("the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results") and the evidence for that conclusion are given in the context of treating people with high blood pressure. (C) gives us information about "people who do not suffer from high blood pressure." So, (C) does not impact the conclusion of the passage as it is written, because it does not give us any information about the relevant population.

Even if (C) did have some impact on the passage, it is unclear how it could weaken the conclusion. The fact that meditation helps another population does not prevent it from also providing the best results for people with high blood pressure. For these reasons, (C) is out.

I hope that helps!
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Re: A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditatio [#permalink] New post   09 Dec 2023, 04:20
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