Question 4
Elodie00die
hi experts!
I don't think the answer choice A is correct in question 4. The customers mentioned in choice A are two different groups of people. I think the study in choice A is only effective if the customers evaluating the products at different prices are the same ones (variable control). But in that case, there's no correct answer...Am I overthinking this ??
Question 4 asks us which answer choice "would most tend to weaken the conclusions drawn" from the research mentioned in the passage. This means that we don't have to PROVE that the research in the passage is garbage -- we just have to weaken it a bit.
You're right that (A) gives us an entirely new group of consumers involved in a new study. This new study did not find the same connection between price and perceived performance risk as did the research in the passage. This undermines the conclusion in the passage by showing that it doesn't always hold up in different studies.
Would it be a
better weakener if the same consumers were used in both studies? Sure, you could argue that! It could make the link drawn in the passage even shakier. But we don't have that option on the table, as as you've mentioned, none of the other answer choices weaken the research in the passage at all.
We've got enough to choose (A) because it does weaken the conclusions of the research a bit.
I hope that helps!