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amlan2018
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Difference between Inference question and Conclusion question 10 Jul 2017, 03:39
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Hi GMATNinja,

Is there a difference between Inference question and Conclusion question.

Are there different approaches to answer each question types?

Regards
Amlan Mishra
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mikemcgarry
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Difference between Inference question and Conclusion question 10 Jul 2017, 15:46
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amlan1985
Hi GMATNinja,

Is there a difference between Inference question and Conclusion question.

Are there different approaches to answer each question types?

Regards
Amlan Mishra
Dear amlan1985,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

These two question types are similar. Obviously, if there's a blank at the end of the passage, that's clearly a "find the conclusion" type. Both of these are about recognizing what is not explicitly said but what must be true based on what is explicitly said. For both, we need to be mindful of our own assumptions and associations between ideas (e.g. just because someone is in the army doesn't mean that person has been in a war; just because someone is in prison does mean that person committed a crime; etc.), making sure not to supply connections that were not specified by the prompt. Both of them are about sticking very closely to what is known from the logic of the argument, and taking only a step guaranteed by that logic. You may find this blog article helpful:
GMAT Critical Reasoning: Find the Conclusion or Inference

Mike :-)
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amlan2018
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Difference between Inference question and Conclusion question 11 Jul 2017, 02:12
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Hi mikemcgarry,

Thanks for the reply. But my question had arisen after working on several inference/conclusion questions. I noticed that

- In an Inference question, the correct answer is often a rephrase of the question stem or a contrapositive of the question stem but in a conclusion question contrapositive or rephrase is not the correct answer choice. In conclusion question type the correct ans seems to be always a deduction or prediction---- for example

If a Q says - If A and B then C. But If A then not B and if B then not A.

Inference ans choice - If not C, then neither A nor B.

Conclusion ans choice - C is not possible.

I have noticed this change of approach in selecting correct ans choice in many Inference / Conclusion questions.

Kindly let me know your view.

Regards
Amlan Mishra
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mikemcgarry
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Difference between Inference question and Conclusion question 11 Jul 2017, 09:43
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amlan1985
Hi mikemcgarry,

Thanks for the reply. But my question had arisen after working on several inference/conclusion questions. I noticed that

- In an Inference question, the correct answer is often a rephrase of the question stem or a contrapositive of the question stem but in a conclusion question contrapositive or rephrase is not the correct answer choice. In conclusion question type the correct ans seems to be always a deduction or prediction---- for example

If a Q says - If A and B then C. But If A then not B and if B then not A.

Inference ans choice - If not C, then neither A nor B.

Conclusion ans choice - C is not possible.

I have noticed this change of approach in selecting correct ans choice in many Inference / Conclusion questions.

Kindly let me know your view.

Regards
Amlan Mishra
Dear amlan1985,

My friend, I think you may be thinking too much in terms of formal logic. While the LSAT cares about formal logic, the GMAT is much more practical: it cares about the push & pull of the real world. I think there's a real danger about getting too formal in your approach to the GMAT CR. If you have a "one size fits all" approach to categories of CR questions, you inevitably will meet some that simply don't fit the pattern. Instead, you have to be tuned in to where the rubber meets the road in the real world. See:
GMAT Critical Reasoning and Outside Knowledge
Reading the business news every day will help you much more on GMAT CR than studying formal logic.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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