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gmatbull
The "spirited" had much influence on readers, yet it ranked 2nd among people polled for the book that had most
influence on them. The "Secret" came 1st.

To establish how reliable the result is, wouldn't it be necessary to confirm whether the people asked actually
would have voted otherwise? This is my reason for D, though wrong.

I also picked the choice you picked and went with the same reasoning as yours.
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gmatbull
The "spirited" had much influence on readers, yet it ranked 2nd among people polled for the book that had most
influence on them. The "Secret" came 1st.

To establish how reliable the result is, wouldn't it be necessary to confirm whether the people asked actually
would have voted otherwise? This is my reason for D, though wrong.

I also picked the choice you picked and went with the same reasoning as yours.

It's C.

Imagine that among the 2,000 readers, 1,995 picked "Secret", 3 picked "Spirited", and 2 a third book.

Of course, "secret" is ranked as second, but it wouldn't had much influence on readers.
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Vineetk
gmatbull
The "spirited" had much influence on readers, yet it ranked 2nd among people polled for the book that had most
influence on them. The "Secret" came 1st.

To establish how reliable the result is, wouldn't it be necessary to confirm whether the people asked actually
would have voted otherwise? This is my reason for D, though wrong.

I also picked the choice you picked and went with the same reasoning as yours.

It's C.

Imagine that among the 2,000 readers, 1,995 picked "Secret", 3 picked "Spirited", and 2 a third book.

Of course, "secret" is ranked as second, but it wouldn't had much influence on readers.


Going by the above illustration ,option B ( How many books had each person surveyed read?) also becomes a contender
-imagine if the 2000 people surveyed read only 2 Books then 'Spirited' is bound to come second (or first)

On the other hand evaluating option D (How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?) would also be essential to verify the Columnist's claim-- (Thomas's book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers)

What is the source of this questions?
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B and C run close. But C is the right answer.

Consider 1500 read "Secret", 251 read "Spirited" and 249 read a book X.

The difference between Secret and Spirited is huge and the difference X and Spirited is very small.
Even though Spirited stands second but it is not exactly a clear winner.
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Vineetk
Columnist: Thomas's book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers. 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life. The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.

Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?

Biased sample is very common in GMAT.

Description of the fallacy: Drawing a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is biased, or chosen in order to make it appear the population on average is different than it actually is.

Logical Form:
Sample S, which is biased, is taken from population P.
Conclusion C is drawn about population P based on S.


There are two main ways that a sample can fail to sufficiently represent the population:
1. The sample is simply too small to represent the population.
2. The sample is biased in some way as a result of not having been chosen randomly from the population. It illustrates that even a very large sample can be biased;

In short, for any sample, the important thing is representativeness, not size.

Questions to evaluate a sample:
When you see/hear a statistic, ask two questions:
(1) The sample is LARGE enough?
(2) The sample has been chosen RANDOMLY?


ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:
Fact: 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life.
Fact: The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.
Conclusion: Thomas’s book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers.

Question: Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

APPLY THE TECHNIQUE:
Ask 2 questions:
(1) The number of people who voted for “Spirited” is large enough?
(2) The readers were chosen randomly or just people who are fan of Thomas?

ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
Wrong. The conclusion just says the book “Spirited” influences a great number of readers. In fact, 2000 people is a great number. If the book actually influences 2000 people, the conclusion is correct. Thus, A does not help.

B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
Wrong. The number of book that people read does not matter, if the “Spirited” influences them the most.

C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
Correct. C attacks the conclusion by questioning that the number of people who chose “Spirited” is large enough to make conclusion? However, C uses other technique by questioning the rest of the sample, rather than the main object (the number of people read the “Spirited”).
The number of people read other book = Total number of people in the sample – number of people read “Spirited”.
Thus, C does help.

D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
Wrong. It does mean one is influenced by the book only if he actually reads it. There are many aspects of the book can influence a person such as the author, the name of book, etc…..

E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?
Wrong. It does not matter. Even when there are many books by Thomas were chosen, the “Spirited” may influence the most if it is representative enough.

Hope it helps.

if feel the reasoning " that no of people reading was very less out the sample " makes the argument weak is wrong.....
the author says it came second and it is still second whether 2 people read it or one ,,,,,,,,,,
because the argument is
came second >>> means it influences most of our readers

it is still second even after considering c
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Vineetk
Columnist: Thomas's book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers. 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life. The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.

Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?

Biased sample is very common in GMAT.

Description of the fallacy: Drawing a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is biased, or chosen in order to make it appear the population on average is different than it actually is.

Logical Form:
Sample S, which is biased, is taken from population P.
Conclusion C is drawn about population P based on S.


There are two main ways that a sample can fail to sufficiently represent the population:
1. The sample is simply too small to represent the population.
2. The sample is biased in some way as a result of not having been chosen randomly from the population. It illustrates that even a very large sample can be biased;

In short, for any sample, the important thing is representativeness, not size.

Questions to evaluate a sample:
When you see/hear a statistic, ask two questions:
(1) The sample is LARGE enough?
(2) The sample has been chosen RANDOMLY?


ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:
Fact: 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life.
Fact: The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.
Conclusion: Thomas’s book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers.

Question: Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

APPLY THE TECHNIQUE:
Ask 2 questions:
(1) The number of people who voted for “Spirited” is large enough?
(2) The readers were chosen randomly or just people who are fan of Thomas?

ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
Wrong. The conclusion just says the book “Spirited” influences a great number of readers. In fact, 2000 people is a great number. If the book actually influences 2000 people, the conclusion is correct. Thus, A does not help.

B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
Wrong. The number of book that people read does not matter, if the “Spirited” influences them the most.

C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
Correct. C attacks the conclusion by questioning that the number of people who chose “Spirited” is large enough to make conclusion? However, C uses other technique by questioning the rest of the sample, rather than the main object (the number of people read the “Spirited”).
The number of people read other book = Total number of people in the sample – number of people read “Spirited”.
Thus, C does help.

D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
Wrong. It does mean one is influenced by the book only if he actually reads it. There are many aspects of the book can influence a person such as the author, the name of book, etc…..

E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?
Wrong. It does not matter. Even when there are many books by Thomas were chosen, the “Spirited” may influence the most if it is representative enough.

Hope it helps.



if feel the reasoning " that no of people reading was very less out the sample " makes the argument weak is wrong.....
the author says it came second and it is still second whether 2 people read it or one ,,,,,,,,,,
because the argument is
came second >>> means it influences most of our readers

it is still second even after considering c
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Vineetk
Columnist: Thomas's book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers. 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life. The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.

Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?

Biased sample is very common in GMAT.

Description of the fallacy: Drawing a conclusion about a population based on a sample that is biased, or chosen in order to make it appear the population on average is different than it actually is.

Logical Form:
Sample S, which is biased, is taken from population P.
Conclusion C is drawn about population P based on S.


There are two main ways that a sample can fail to sufficiently represent the population:
1. The sample is simply too small to represent the population.
2. The sample is biased in some way as a result of not having been chosen randomly from the population. It illustrates that even a very large sample can be biased;

In short, for any sample, the important thing is representativeness, not size.

Questions to evaluate a sample:
When you see/hear a statistic, ask two questions:
(1) The sample is LARGE enough?
(2) The sample has been chosen RANDOMLY?


ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:
Fact: 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life.
Fact: The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.
Conclusion: Thomas’s book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers.

Question: Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

APPLY THE TECHNIQUE:
Ask 2 questions:
(1) The number of people who voted for “Spirited” is large enough?
(2) The readers were chosen randomly or just people who are fan of Thomas?

ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
Wrong. The conclusion just says the book “Spirited” influences a great number of readers. In fact, 2000 people is a great number. If the book actually influences 2000 people, the conclusion is correct. Thus, A does not help.

B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
Wrong. The number of book that people read does not matter, if the “Spirited” influences them the most.

C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
Correct. C attacks the conclusion by questioning that the number of people who chose “Spirited” is large enough to make conclusion? However, C uses other technique by questioning the rest of the sample, rather than the main object (the number of people read the “Spirited”).
The number of people read other book = Total number of people in the sample – number of people read “Spirited”.
Thus, C does help.


For Option A:If the number of readers of the newspaper is say 50K,would 2000 still be considered a representative sample.So,keeping that in mind,isn't A the corrrect option.
Might be, that I should not be attacking the premise in such questions.Rather I should try to attack the assumption.But this seemed an important consideration to me.
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Veritas Magoosh e-gmat

Any expert, please explain this question!
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Pre-thinking:- What about other rankings? OR Are these the only 2 books that are surveyed?

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper? - Not required

B. How many books had each person surveyed read? - Irrelevant, as people can read either 1 book or many books, Still doesn't affect it.

C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"? - Correct

D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose? - If true, then the influence is certain. If no, people are still influenced by the book due to some other factors. (Maybe they are aware because of its synopsis through animation/ word of mouth)

E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen? Not required

C -
If yes, then out of many books surveyed, Spirited indeed is influential to great degree.
If no, then only 2 books surveyed, we conclude that Spirited is not that influential at all.

Please feel free to correct me, if I am wrong in my approach.
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I don't agree why the correct answer is C ?

I already know that the following : The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second

which means that when I asked people in the sample which book do you choose that has the most influence on you the answer was Secret (X people answered Secret) Spirited (Y people answred Spirited) so that X>Y

if I ask the question of how many people choose books other than "Spirited" and I got like X+1 that means that "spirited is no longer the second right ?
Vineetk
Columnist: Thomas's book "Spirited" has exercised much influence on a great numbers of this newspaper's readers. 2000 readers were surveyed and asked to name the book that had influence on their life. The book chosen most was the "Secret" and "Spirited" was second.

Which of the following question will be most useful in evaluating the columnist's argument?

A. How many people read the columnist’s newspaper?
B. How many books had each person surveyed read?
C. How many people chose books other than "Spirited"?
D. How many of those surveyed had actually read the books they chose?
E. How many books by Thomas other than "Spirited" were chosen?
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