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655-705 (Hard)|   Logical Flaw|   Weaken|         
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KarishmaB
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 31 Oct 2018, 00:36
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AdityaHongunti
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I selected E . But please correct my reasoning for option B. I was stuck between these two. But i rejected option B on the basis of EXTREME POVERTY.

karishma i'll be using your analysis:
"Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton." -
Say average per capita income of K is $10,000
Say average per capita income of B is $40,000

"They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong."

lets consider poverty limit in K = 1000
poverty limit in B = 20,000

now lets alsmot all K's are above 1000 and near to 10000
and most of K are below 20k . But a group of B citizens earn so much that the avg gets to 40k (similar to your reasoning)

the xtreme poverty according to B can be 20k
even in this sitiation BOTH STATEMENTS ARE RIGHT. PLease correct my reasoning
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Here is the problem with your analysis:
Even if poverty does not have a precise, universally accepted definition, you cannot apply such different definitions to different circumstances. You have to use the definition you believe in - whether it is $1000 a year or $1200 a year etc.
Also, we are talking about poverty in K vs extreme poverty in B. How can poverty be $1000 and extreme poverty be $20,000?

So, try to find the option that suits the reasoning of the argument, not the one that you can twist to work with the argument.
Does that help?
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 24 Sep 2019, 07:18
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nightblade354

Can you please help understand why C is incorrect?

Imagine both countries have 10 people who live in poverty, and the population of country K and B is 100 and 15 people, respectively. So, 10% of people in K and 66% of people in B live in poverty. And this is what C says, essentially.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 08 Feb 2020, 01:10
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton. They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong.

The argument above is most vulnerable to which of the following criticisms?


(A) It rejects an empirical claim about the average per capita incomes in the two countries without making any attempt to discredit that claim by offering additional economic evidence.

(B) It treats the vague term “poverty” as though it had a precise and universally accepted meaning.

(C) It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly.

(D) It fails to show that wealth and poverty have the same social significance in Kuptala as in Bahlton.

(E) It does not consider the possibility that incomes in Kuptala, unlike those in Bahlton, might all be very close to the country’s average per capita income.
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This question presents a data in a way to fool us . BEWARE .
The stem says per capita income = total income / no. of people (total population) is low in K and high in B . and additional parameter is shown but its a generalised poverty they did not tell us percentage or any strong data . This info is additionally given to confuse you the main focus is still on per capita income . The writer concludes that one of the data / stmt is wrong .
AIM =we need to prove that both are correct . Stop here and think that in what scenario will this situation be true .
1) K has people earning close to the average and lets say all 10 people earn . But B has 10 people and only 4 earn high income and rest don't earn at all .so this scenario fits in both cases . its possible to have low per capita income and yet no / low poverty .
To build this thinking you need to practice AVERAGES we know avg is not a concrete data and hence we must know how to manipulate as per our question. HENCE OPT E fits our prethinking.
TIP - always prethink in questions with word such as PER , AVG ,DATA .otherwise u will end up confused between 2,3 options.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 08 Feb 2020, 01:28
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mykrasovski
nightblade354

Can you please help understand why C is incorrect?

Imagine both countries have 10 people who live in poverty, and the population of country K and B is 100 and 15 people, respectively. So, 10% of people in K and 66% of people in B live in poverty. And this is what C says, essentially.
Show more

you are missing the point that words used in C doesnt match our premise .
It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly.
1)we are not sure if poor people are same
2)argument started with per capita income and we have to keep the main focus on per capita income . We have no strong word for poverty PER/NO. OF etc.
3)opt C is confusing us the 2 things in opt C % and people are not in STEM this dosen't help us weaken argument that none data is wrong .
4)even if no. of people in poverty are same we would need why per capita talk is correct . lets say K has 10 people and 6 are poor 5000/10 =500 But B has 10000/10 and 6 poor(more than half is poor ) =1000 This data still involves the possibility that distribution of income near avg is more in K and less in B (income is sparse few healthy people are covering up poverty . We have to choose BEST ans not just correct ans .
So if we have to choose opt that covers all aspects and leaves no loose ends . So E is a safe play it represents same data without any extra info helps us weaken the so called facts / data opposed in the conclusion.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 14 Sep 2021, 08:28
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- Average per capita income in the country of Kaptala is substantially lower than that in Bahlton
- Poverty is rare in Kuptala, whereas half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty
- Conclusion: At least one of the claims are wrong.

To weaken the conclusion, we have to find an answer choice that suggests both claims are accurate. Let’s go through the choices.

A – The conclusion states at least one of the demographers' claims must be wrong. Can we say from this conclusion that it rejects an empirical claim about average per capita income? The answer is no.

B – The argument doesn’t revolve around a definition.

C – The argument doesn’t overlook this possibility. The argument is questioning the possibility of a town having a substantially lower per capita income AND a lower poverty rate. The exact number of people in poverty is not important here.

D – Irrelevant.

E – CORRECT. Say in Bahlton we have many people in poverty and a handful of extremely wealthy people. The per capita income can be relatively high and many people can be in poverty. Choice E weakens the conclusion.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 14 Mar 2022, 00:19
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KarishmaB
Vavali
ANswer with explanation please. Thanks

Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton. They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong.
The argument above is most vulnerable to which of the following criticisms?
(A) It rejects an empirical claim about the average per capita incomes in the two countries without making any attempt to discredit that claim by offering additional economic evidence.
(B) It treats the vague term “poverty” as though it had a precise and universally accepted meaning.
(C) It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly.
(D) It fails to show that wealth and poverty have the same social significance in Kuptala as in Bahlton.
(E) It does not consider the possibility that incomes in Kuptala, unlike those in Bahlton, might all be very close to the country’s average per capita income.

@KarishmaB , I took 2:30 mins to solve this question, is that a good tie for a 700+ cr ques?

Responding to a pm:

Let's understand the argument:

"Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton." -
Say average per capita income of K is $10,000
Say average per capita income of B is $40,000

"They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong."

This is possible with the numbers given above, right? Say, poverty is defined as < $5000. Say, most people in K earn $10,000. Very few are less than $5000 and very few are above $15000. Say most people lie close to the average.
On the other hand, it is possible that 80% of people in B earn only $1000. Then the rest of the 20% must have very high income i.e. say $150,000. In that case, even though average per capita income would be relatively higher, most of the population would be below poverty line.

"At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong."

This is incorrect conclusion. It is not necessary that at least one of the demographers’ claims must be wrong as we showed above with some numbers.

The argument above is most vulnerable to which of the following criticisms?
(E) It does not consider the possibility that incomes in Kuptala, unlike those in Bahlton, might all be very close to the country’s average per capita income.

This is exactly what we thought. Incomes in K might be very close to the country's average so that very few people have less than average income (or below poverty line) whereas the gap between in incomes in B might be very high such that many people fall below the poverty line.

Hence (E) is the answer.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 14 Mar 2022, 00:20
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I selected E . But please correct my reasoning for option B. I was stuck between these two. But i rejected option B on the basis of EXTREME POVERTY.

karishma i'll be using your analysis:
"Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton." -
Say average per capita income of K is $10,000
Say average per capita income of B is $40,000

"They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong."

lets consider poverty limit in K = 1000
poverty limit in B = 20,000

now lets alsmot all K's are above 1000 and near to 10000
and most of K are below 20k . But a group of B citizens earn so much that the avg gets to 40k (similar to your reasoning)

the xtreme poverty according to B can be 20k
even in this sitiation BOTH STATEMENTS ARE RIGHT. PLease correct my reasoning

Here is the problem with your analysis:
Even if poverty does not have a precise, universally accepted definition, you cannot apply such different definitions to different circumstances. You have to use the definition you believe in - whether it is $1000 a year or $1200 a year etc.
Also, we are talking about poverty in K vs extreme poverty in B. How can poverty be $1000 and extreme poverty be $20,000?

So, try to find the option that suits the reasoning of the argument, not the one that you can twist to work with the argument.
Does that help?
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KarishmaB , I took 2:30 mins to solve this question, is that a good tie for a 700+ cr ques?
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 14 Mar 2022, 01:12
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aditijain1507
KarishmaB
AdityaHongunti
GMATNinja VeritasKarishma DmitryFarber chetan2u

I selected E . But please correct my reasoning for option B. I was stuck between these two. But i rejected option B on the basis of EXTREME POVERTY.

karishma i'll be using your analysis:
"Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter claim that the average per capita income in the country of Kuptala is substantially lower than that in the country of Bahlton." -
Say average per capita income of K is $10,000
Say average per capita income of B is $40,000

"They also claim, however, that whereas poverty is relatively rare in Kuptala, over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty. At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong."

lets consider poverty limit in K = 1000
poverty limit in B = 20,000

now lets alsmot all K's are above 1000 and near to 10000
and most of K are below 20k . But a group of B citizens earn so much that the avg gets to 40k (similar to your reasoning)

the xtreme poverty according to B can be 20k
even in this sitiation BOTH STATEMENTS ARE RIGHT. PLease correct my reasoning

Here is the problem with your analysis:
Even if poverty does not have a precise, universally accepted definition, you cannot apply such different definitions to different circumstances. You have to use the definition you believe in - whether it is $1000 a year or $1200 a year etc.
Also, we are talking about poverty in K vs extreme poverty in B. How can poverty be $1000 and extreme poverty be $20,000?

So, try to find the option that suits the reasoning of the argument, not the one that you can twist to work with the argument.
Does that help?




KarishmaB , I took 2:30 mins to solve this question, is that a good tie for a 700+ cr ques?
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Yes, you can afford to put 2.5 - 3 mins per CR question provided you take up only a minute each for SC questions.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 25 May 2022, 23:56
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Hey Experts,

KarishmaB DmitryFarber ExpertsGlobal5

Could you help me understand why option B is incorrect? If definition of poverty is not globally accepted then it could weaken the argument. Ex, Country A has less per capita income but is poverty line is also very low then high % of population would be above poverty line.

Please do let me know gap in my understanding.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 27 May 2022, 01:44
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waytowharton
Hey Experts,

KarishmaB DmitryFarber ExpertsGlobal5

Could you help me understand why option B is incorrect? If definition of poverty is not globally accepted then it could weaken the argument. Ex, Country A has less per capita income but is poverty line is also very low then high % of population would be above poverty line.

Please do let me know gap in my understanding.
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Even if the definition of poverty is not precise or universally accepted, there is some definition being used by the demographer which he is applying to both the countries.
As per that, he says that poverty is rare in K but there is extreme poverty in B. So whatever his definition may be (say less than $10K per annum), B certainly has many people with income much less than that while K has very few people with that kind of income.

The author's conclusion is: At least one of the demographers’ claims must, therefore, be wrong.
This is what we have to weaken. We have to show that both demographers may be correct. That it is possible that both scenarios co-exist.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 20 Oct 2023, 11:27
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Understanding the argument -
Premise/Claim -
1. Average per capita in Kuptala (K) is substantially lower than Bahlton (B)
2. Poverty is relatively rare in K, while >50% of B's population lives in poverty

Conclusion - At least one of the claims is false

The argument touches on the classic statistical flaw, which is giving some statistics about averages and percentages and leaving the possibility that a situation can be true while both claims are correct. How? If K has the majority of its people living around the average (which is obviously above the poverty range), which is substantially lower than B's average, and in B, 20% of the people are wealthy while 80% are just abysmal, then B's average while much higher than K - shows a possible scenario that the author has missed. And that's the flaw.

We have to find a flaw in the argument.

Option Elimination -

(A) It rejects an empirical claim about the average per capita incomes in the two countries without making any attempt to discredit that claim by offering additional economic evidence. - While this option talks about one claim, how about the other? Moreover, the author is not rejecting anything. Reject means refuse - The author didn't say I refuse to accept your claim. He is saying the claim must be false.

(B) It treats the vague term “poverty” as though it had a precise and universally accepted meaning. No, this is not a flaw. Out of scope.

(C) It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly. The number of people doesn't matter as we don't know the total population. What we are given is average and poverty. That's sufficient to point to the flaw. This is a distortion to waste time.

(D) It fails to show that wealth and poverty have the same social significance in Kuptala as in Bahlton. - out of scope.

(E) It does not consider the possibility that incomes in Kuptala, unlike those in Bahlton, might all be very close to the country’s average per capita income. exactly. That explains why poverty is extremely low and also shows a possibility, as discussed in our pre-thinking.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 20 Jan 2024, 01:47
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gautham0615
Why is option C wrong?
Say:
Income of people in Kuptala: [50,50,50,50... ,50, 10,10]
Income of people in Bahlton: [200,200,10,10] (Assuming only 4 people in Bahlton for simplicity)

Average income differs substantially as we can see.

Also lets assume that the people who are getting 10 as their income as in poverty.

The number of people in extreme poverty is the same in the two countries, but in Bahlton half the population is in extreme poverty. (Question says more than half, so I should have added another 10. But that doesn't really matter)

So one of claims need not be wrong because - It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly. And this is option C.
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I applied the same reasoning. Is this reasoning incorrect @ experts- KarishmaB ScottTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 21 Jan 2024, 02:23
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RenB
gautham0615
Why is option C wrong?
Say:
Income of people in Kuptala: [50,50,50,50... ,50, 10,10]
Income of people in Bahlton: [200,200,10,10] (Assuming only 4 people in Bahlton for simplicity)

Average income differs substantially as we can see.

Also lets assume that the people who are getting 10 as their income as in poverty.

The number of people in extreme poverty is the same in the two countries, but in Bahlton half the population is in extreme poverty. (Question says more than half, so I should have added another 10. But that doesn't really matter)

So one of claims need not be wrong because - It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly. And this is option C.

I applied the same reasoning. Is this reasoning incorrect @ experts- KarishmaB ScottTargetTestPrep AjiteshArun
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Yes it is incorrect because this logic incorporates the correct option (E) too.

Income of people in Kuptala: [50,50,50,50... ,50, 10,10]
Income of people in Bahlton: [200,200,10,10]
You have made income of people in K much closer to the average than in B. (which is what option (E) suggests)
Why is the income in Bahlton 200, 200? If you are comparing just the number of people in poverty and the percentage of people on poverty, the others must all have an income of 50. This logic works because it incorporates (E) too. Can you do it without this distinction of 50 and 200?

But I can easily do it without this distinction of number of people and percentage of people in poverty

Income of people in Kuptala: [50,50,50,50... ,40, 10,10]
Income of people in Bahlton: [200,200, 200, 200, ... 10, 10, 10, 10,10]
All conditions met though number of people living in poverty is not the same in the two. So option (C) doesn't explain the paradox.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 19 Mar 2025, 03:37
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Hi KarishmaB GMATNinja MartyMurray
I have a doubt on option A and C.??

On option A, let's say we assume "rejecting a claim" as "claim is wrong"

Option A ="It rejects an empirical claim about the average per capita incomes in the two countries without making any attempt to discredit that claim by offering additional economic evidence"

Option A means the conclusion rejects an empirical claim about average per capita (claim 1) without any additional economic evidence BUT we have the claim 2 as an additional evidence which goes in contrast to claim 1 in the argument, thus, option A is clearly wrong.

Option C = "It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly."
On option C, number of people don't matter as the claim 1 is on "per capita income".

Please let me know if above reasonings are sound to reject option A and C.
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 22 Mar 2025, 14:03
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agrasan
Hi KarishmaB GMATNinja MartyMurray

I have a doubt on option A and C.??

On option A, let's say we assume "rejecting a claim" as "claim is wrong"

Option A ="It rejects an empirical claim about the average per capita incomes in the two countries without making any attempt to discredit that claim by offering additional economic evidence"

Option A means the conclusion rejects an empirical claim about average per capita (claim 1) without any additional economic evidence BUT we have the claim 2 as an additional evidence which goes in contrast to claim 1 in the argument, thus, option A is clearly wrong.

Option C = "It overlooks the possibility that the number of people in the two countries who live in poverty could be the same even though the percentages of the two populations that live in poverty differ markedly."

On option C, number of people don't matter as the claim 1 is on "per capita income".

Please let me know if above reasonings are sound to reject option A and C.
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Sounds like you've got it!

(A) would mean rejecting the claim in the first sentence (about average per capita income) without providing any counter-evidence. But the author doesn't necessarily reject the claim in the first sentence. Instead, the author concludes that ONE of the two claims must be incorrect. The author would agree that the claim in the first sentence MIGHT be correct.

And yes, (C) is out because population size doesn't matter when analyzing average per capita income and poverty rates ("over half the population of Bahlton lives in extreme poverty").

I hope that helps!
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sriramsundaram91
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Demographers doing research for an international economics newsletter 30 Mar 2026, 06:02
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The question indirectly checks on your knowledge on how average or mean can be impacted based on the different distribution of the numbers in a statistic

If you can sense that mean of 50, 50, 50, 50 is 50 and of 1, 25, 75, 99 is also 50, then you have your answer.
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