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GMAT Club Olympics 2024 (Day 1): Economist: A recent survey found that

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09 Jul 2024, 03:21

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Question stem is asking how is it possible that even though internet censorship exist, why is there higher rates of internet usage per capita in that country.

A. Even though they use it for work-related, doesn't explain why interet usage is high. Countries with no censorship also have people who uses internet for work. Incorrect.
B. This works. If they are bypassing restriction, higher internet usage per capita can be explained. Correct
C. Doesn't explain the paradox. Incorrect.
D. Not same as higher rates of internet usage per capita. Incorrect.
E. No information about demographic of country. Incorrect.

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09 Jul 2024, 03:30

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The question states- More censorship ----->More usage of Internet per capita.
E seems appropriate, becoz if disproportionate no of youngsters are surveyed and if youngsters make up to most no of ppl using the internet, the discrepancy in the data is thus explained

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A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies.
In countries with higher internet censorship, many residents primarily use the internet for work-related tasks, which are not significantly impacted by censorship policies.

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online.
"broader range of content online" means more per capita internet usage. This is available using proxy servers and VPN. Without these 2 tools, per capita internet usage will not increase.

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions.
The methodology used to collect internet usage data may include various forms of engagement metrics, this may or may not skewed the data. Also, it is already established that the per capita of internet usage is increased.

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users.
If both Population and Data usage are high, than the per capita internet usage will not increase.

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels.
The survey included a disproportionately high number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels. This overrepresentation of heavy internet users were both before and after the censorship level. This group will not increase the per capita internet usage.

IMO B.

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09 Jul 2024, 04:07

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(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies.#Partially explains, but 'many' not does address the high per capita usage.

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online. #'often' use does not address high per capita use

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions. #Irrelevant

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users. #addressed using per capita

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels. #Correct. it is the young people who is majorly contrbuting in the total population, thus skewing the per capita data.

Answer E

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09 Jul 2024, 04:29

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So, i actually stumbled on these answers B and D. and i chose D.
How this censorship thing doesn't deter the usage is related to VPN and proxy, which allow them to bypass restrictions. that's why B might be correct.
But i chose D, which says high population of the country makes the internet usage higher, but it actually doesn't related to the censorship I reckon.

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09 Jul 2024, 05:02

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(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies.

This can explain why countries with high internet censorship are not lagging behind by a lot but it does not explain why they have higher rates of internet usage.

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online.

This can explain why countries with censorship are not lagging behind, but it does not explain why they have higher rates of internet usage than countries that do not need proxy servers and VPNs.

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions.

This one is correct! Collected data are misleading. Data combine different collection methodologies with significant differences between surveyed regions. For example, combining direct engagement metrics from low-censorship countries and indirect engagement metrics from high-censorship countries can, hypothetically, give paradoxical results.

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users.

This is irrelevant. The question asks about per capita usage rates, not total.

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels.

This applies to both countries with low and high rates of censorship, thus it does not explain the difference.

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09 Jul 2024, 05:33

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Bunuel

survey found countries => higher rates of internet censorship => higher rates of internet usage per capita

seems counterintuitive as restrictions would deter usage

Quote:

(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies.

where high censorship => accessing work related stuff. doesn't given any reasoning why per capita usage is higher in these scenarios

Quote:

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online.

high censorship => proxy server / vpn => bypass restriction => more content online (data usage is higher leading to higher per capita consumption)

Quote:

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions.

this doesn't convey any direct information with regards to per capita data consumption.

Quote:

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users.

discussion about percapita internet usage, not the total number of internet users

Quote:

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels.

number of young people, questions the bias of the survey. but here the survey is known fact - the sampling bias doesn't justify in context of censorship for more data usage per capita. it says regardless of censorship levels

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09 Jul 2024, 05:49

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Bunuel

Economist: A recent survey found that in countries with higher rates of internet censorship, there are also higher rates of internet usage per capita. This seems counterintuitive because one might expect that restrictions on internet content would deter usage.

Which of the following, if true and known by the residents of these countries, would best help explain the paradoxical results of the survey?

(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies.

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online.

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions.

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users.

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels.

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A-doesnt matter even if they use the data for work related but doesnt explain the reason
B-gives the reason for the increased usage
C-Not concerned
D-Out of scope
E-Outof scope

Ans-B

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09 Jul 2024, 06:18

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The answer choice that will best explain the paradoxical result-

B- Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online.

You can eliminate the rest of the answers by POE, B as it is mentioned that it allows them to "access a broader range of content online". Thus, usage is not getting detered and it also explains the higher rates of internet usage per capita.

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09 Jul 2024, 06:35

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(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies:- Purpose of internet usage does not have any relation to low or high per capita internet usage. So many residents can still be having higher internet usage with work-related usage also. Hence this is not the correct answer.

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online:- Using the proxy servers and VPNs, these users have nullified the imposition of higher internet censorship. Additionally using proxy servers and VPNs they can access broader range of content online, which can justify higher per capita usage. Hence the correct answer.

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions:- the variation still does not explain why countries with high internet censorship have high per capita internet usage. Hence not the correct answer.

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users:- Even if they have higher population, we are comparing per capita usage and not the total usage. Hence not the correct answer.

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels:- This will be valid whether that country has censorship or not, hence does not justify higher per capita internet usage. Hence not the correct answer.

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09 Jul 2024, 06:37

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Firstly, the higher rates per capita may be triggered by two aspects: either the higher numerator, which is the amount of used internet, or the lower denominator, which is the population. Hence, either of these two aspects could trigger the discrepancy described in the argument.

A.
This seems complementary to the actual argument, but this wouldn’t account for the ratio being higher: that is, if everyone uses the internet for work, we would expect the per capita usage to be similar across regions, but not higher for the censored countries.

B.
Again, while there are some services that allow the users to overcome censorship, this doesn’t explain why the per capita ratio becomes higher for such countries. Equal or non-different from the rest of the world – yes; but higher – not really.

C.
While vague, this is the only point that provides us with at least some justification for cross-regional differences. That is, there’s a methodology discrepancy which can significantly distort the values across countries – so in theory it could explain the different per capita usage. This seems like the right answer.

D.
This is not explanatory because higher populations would actually lead to lower per capita ratio, which is the opposite of our case.

E.
Once again, we have the argument that applies to both censored and non-censored countries, so wouldn’t explain the discrepancy between them.

Therefore, IMO the correct response is C.

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09 Jul 2024, 06:49

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Bunuel

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E since the data collected for the survey could have been skewed towards younger people in the first place. A is wrong since it does not mention if the work load is progressively higher so people need to use internet more. B can distract you since it's an example we see often in real life but is unsupported by any reasoning nor context from the text. C and D are both outside of scope.

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09 Jul 2024, 06:56

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The cause and effect needs to be dealt with in this question. The internet censorship is not the cause of lower internet rates as the censorship is not the cause, rather the effect.
Option B points out this. Hence the answer.

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09 Jul 2024, 07:47

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Option (B) provides a strong explanation by indicating that residents in countries with high internet censorship use proxy servers and VPNs to bypass restrictions, allowing them to access a broader range of content online.

This means that despite the censorship, they can still engage with a wide array of internet resources, possibly even more than users in countries with less censorship due to the specific techniques they employ to circumvent restrictions.

This ability to access more content could lead to higher internet usage rates per capita, as users might spend more time online exploring the wide range of information and services that they can access through these tools.

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10 Jul 2024, 05:27

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Quote:

To solve this question, let us deploy IMS's four-step technique.

STEP #1 -> IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE

Let us read the question stem to identify the question type. The stem states, 'Which of the following, if true and known by the residents of these countries, would best help explain the paradoxical results of the survey?' What we have is a resolve/explain the paradox question.

Now that the question type is identified, let us proceed to the second step.

STEP #2 -> FIGURE OUT THE PARADOX

In a paradox question, it is a must to figure out the paradox. Let us therefore read the passage and find out what the paradoxical results of the survey actually are.

PARADOX: In countries with higher rates of internet censorship, there are also higher rates of internet usage per capita.

STEP #3 -> FRAME A SHADOW ANSWER

The right answer must explain how it is possible for countries with higher rates of internet censorship to have higher rates of internet usage per capita.

SHADOW ANSWER: Any situation that tells us how it is possible for countries with higher rates of internet censorship to have higher rates of internet usage per capita.

STEP #4 -> ELIMINATE INCORRECT ANSWER OPTIONS

All answer options that do not match with the shadow answer can be eliminated.

(A) Many residents in countries with higher internet censorship use the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies. - NOT A MATCH - Even if many residents in countries with higher internet censorship used the internet primarily for work-related purposes, which are not affected by censorship policies, we would not be able to explain how the internet usage per capita[color=#000000] is higher in such countries. - [/color]ELIMINATE

(B) Residents in countries with high internet censorship often use proxy servers and VPNs, which allow them to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online. - MATCHES THE SHADOW ANSWER - If each resident in countries with high internet censorship often uses proxy servers and VPNs, which allows him/her to bypass restrictions and access a broader range of content online, we can explain how internet usage per capita is higher in such countries. - KEEP

(C) There is an observed trend in the data collection methodology where internet usage metrics might include both direct and indirect engagement metrics, which vary significantly between surveyed regions. - NOT A MATCH - Not worried about the stated observed trend. - ELIMINATE

(D) Countries with high rates of internet censorship often have higher populations, thus naturally leading to a higher total number of internet users. - NOT A MATCH - Does not tell us why the internet usage per capita is higher. - ELIMINATE

(E) The survey included responses from a disproportionate number of young people, who tend to use the internet more frequently regardless of censorship levels. - NOT A MATCH - Again, does not tell us why the internet usage per capita is higher. - ELIMINATE

Hence, B is the correct answer.

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12 Oct 2025, 11:01

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what if the countries which don't have censorship have already broader content already and still these people are using more data. I think the option should target the user behavior and not the content availability because we are more focused on their higher usage after censoring.