GMAT Club World Cup 2022 (DAY 10): A team of educational researchers

Premise:
> A team of educational researchers at a University wanted to assess the relation between studying late at night with the performance of the students.
> Currently the classes at the University start very early in the morning, not encouraging the students to study late at night.
> However the researchers allowed a group of volunteer students to arrive for their classes late in the morning for a period of three months during which they studied late at night regularly.
> It was observed that their performance significantly improved.

Suggested Plan:
Implement late start of classes in the morning at the University to improve the performance of the students

Our job:
Weaken the suggested plan

What should the answer have?
If we say that the sample size is not a true representation of the class, then the plan falls apart because it won't really lead to an overall improvement in performance

Let's analyse the options:


This point doesn't address how the plan won't lead to the overall improvement. Hence, irrelevant.


This aligns with our pre-thinking that the volunteers were not a true representation of the whole class. So, it's possible that the overall improvement suggested will not be achieved. Let's hold on to it.


But where is it mentioned that these two methods of improving performance are mutually exclusive? We can do both at once. Hence, incorrect.


This option speaks for itself, I guess. The Dean's convenience doesn't impact the viability of the plan. Incorrect.


This is a good option because it says that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive, and it's possible that this affects their performance instead. But then, this would've been factored in the case of the volunteers right? If the study still shows improvement, then the effect of this option is negligible.

Hence, option B is the right answer.

Goal : to improve the performance of the students
Plan : late start of classes in the morning at the University


A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.

We are concerned about the performance improvement and this option does not provide any details on that

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.

A good reason to believe that the plan wont work because the sample sized was skewed

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.

Provides an alternate plan. Eliminate.

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes

Out of scope

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.

Out of scope


IMO B

Analysis: Based on study conducted by university with the group of volunteer students:
=> Late morning classes = late night study = performance improvement.

We need to find statement with strongest grounds against deciding, to implement late start of classes in the morning to improve the performance of the students.

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.
--> Incorrect: inconvenience to admin staff is irrelevant to the expected outcome for improvement in student's performance.

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.
--> Correct: If the students who volunteered for the study had the habit of studying late and were high performers then the outcome of study is biased towards these students and it is possible that the large number of students who were not part of study will not be able to perform well if classes start late.

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.
--> Incorrect: starting classes late cannot be considered a state of art teaching method. Otherwise too, this statement could be considered supportive to decision to start late classes.

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes.
--> Incorrect: Irrelevant to the decision why university wants to change timing of the classes.

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.
--> Incorrect: Even if travelling is inconvenient for the students, their performance can be expected to improve based on the study's outcome.

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.
INCORRECT. The question asks: "Which of the following options, if true, would have the strongest grounds against deciding, on the basis of the above assessment, to implement late start of classes in the morning at the University to improve the performance of the students?" Here, it could well be the case that late start of the classes requiring significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff be considered a drawback, but we are asked to evaluate on the basis of assessment conducted, so other administrative challenges are irrelevant to the argument.

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.
CORRECT. If it is known that only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered in the assessment, this could be a case of a biased sample which may not be representative of the entire university population, and the results of the assessment may not be accurate. Thus if this is true we must be cautious to use the results of the assessment in deciding to implement late start of classes in the morning at the University to improve the performance of the students.

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.
INCORRECT. We are not talking about an alternate plan. So this is irrelevant to the argument.

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes.
INCORRECT. What the Dean of the University thinks about changing the current time of the class is irrelevant in judging on the basis of the assessment whether to implement late start in class in the morning.

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.
INCORRECT. Again this may very well be another drawback of starting classes late in the morning, but we are not concerned about that. Central to the argument is whether to implement late start of classes in the morning on the basis of the assessment conducted.

A team of educational researchers at a University wanted to assess the relation between studying late at night with the performance of the students. Currently the classes at the University start very early in the morning, not encouraging the students to study late at night.
However the researchers allowed a group of volunteer students to arrive for their classes late in the morning for a period of three months during which they studied late at night regularly. It was observed that their performance significantly improved.

Which of the following options, if true, would have the strongest grounds against deciding, on the basis of the above assessment, to implement late start of classes in the morning at the University to improve the performance of the students?


We are NOT concerned with timing of administrative staffs but are concerned with performance of the students.
Incorrect

The statement provide a valid reason that the results of the study was based on a sub-set of students who were already high performer when they studied late at night during high school days. Their performance improvement may be because of their past study habits.
The results may NOT be valid for other students.
Correct

We are NOT conerend with various other methods to improve peformance of the students sicne they can be used alongwith late start of classes.
Incorrect

We are NOT concerned with arbitrary decision by any authority but are concerned with peformance of the students.
Incorrect

We are NOT conerned with convenience of the students but are concerned with improvement in their peformance.
Incorrect

IMO B

Imo B
We have to weaken the fact that implementing late start of classes in the morning improve performance of students

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.
Out of scope. The argument is not for the administrative staff.
B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.
Correct. This option shows that the research happened for few students who are already high performers and who had a habit to study late night, and now they will get more time to study in the nights, but the results might not be same for other students.
C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.
Irrelevant. Other teaching methods are irrelevant for our argument.
D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes.
Irrelevant.
E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.
This option doesn't talk about the impact on the performance of the students.

Premise - Volunteers who started the class later in the day and studied regularly in the night for 3 months had performance improvement

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff. -- irrelevant to performance of students

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered. -- This weakens the premise since it proves that the sample used for the research was not representative of the class. Moreover the volunteers had a pre existing preference towards studying late in the night and were high performers.

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment. --out of scope

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes. --deans preference are irrelevant to discuss the effectiveness of starting the classes late in the day

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport. --how the students reach the school is out of scope of discussion to decide the effectiveness of late starting classes

A team of educational researchers at a University wanted to assess the relation between studying late at night with the performance of the students. Currently the classes at the University start very early in the morning, not encouraging the students to study late at night. However the researchers allowed a group of volunteer students to arrive for their classes late in the morning for a period of three months during which they studied late at night regularly. It was observed that their performance significantly improved.

Which of the following options, if true, would have the strongest grounds against deciding, on the basis of the above assessment, to implement late start of classes in the morning at the University to improve the performance of the students?

Weakener required for the conclusion that 'performance significantly improved by studying late at night'

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.
Irrelevant.., since timings for staff is not the focus of the stimulus

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.
The prompt hints at 'Non-representative sample' while drawing the conclusion..a true weakener for the conclusion..Hence, the CORRECT option

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.
Method is applicable to both -- day study as well as night study..neither strengthens nor weakens

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes.
Appeal to authority --not concerned in the given stimulus

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.
Performance comparison between day / night study is the focus of the reasoning..not the incovenience while arriving at the university

(B) is the correct answer

Researchers want to assess relationship between studying late at night and performance of students. Although classes start early, discouraging late night studying, researchers allowed a batch of students to volunteer and arrive late for class for 3 months and observed that their performances improved significantly
Which options would give the strongest grounds to NOT start classes late for performance improvement of students

So basically we need to find an option that states in a way that something about the students who volunteered was special or different that helped them improve their performances by studying at night, and that something might not work for all?

A. The late start of the classes would also require significant and inconvenient changes in the timing for the administrative staff.
Fair enough but we are more concerned with finding something that gives us grounds on how late classes will not improve performances. This is irrelevant. ELIMINATE

B. Only a few students who were high performers during their high school days when they had the habit of studying late at night volunteered.
Yes! Only students who already had a habit of studying late and were top performers in school using this trick volunteered meaning the results of this experiment are not entirely accurate and might not work for all. ANSWER

C. Implementing certain state of the art teaching methods would substantially increase the performance of the students, comparable to that observed in the assessment.
This gives us a method on how to improve performances without going late, but does not give us any grounds on why going late might not work. ELIMINATE

D. The Dean of the University is not in favor of changing the current timing of the classes.
Yet again, this is irrelevant to late studying and improved performances, choice or preference of anyone for class timings do not matter, performances with respect to class timings matter. ELIMINATE

E. Late start of the classes also means that it would be more inconvenient for the students to arrive at the University using the more crowded public transport.
Another option linked to preference. Irrelevant. ELIMINATE

Answer - B