A random survey of 1,000 people, all of whom moved over 2,000 miles

A random survey of 1,000 people, all of whom moved over 2,000 miles away from a close friend over five years ago, found that in almost every case, those people who talked to their friend on the phone at least once a month were more likely to feel close to their friend five years later than were those who communicated only by electronic mail. Thus, a reliance on electronic mail as the primary means of communication can jeopardize a close long-distance friendship.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

A. Long-distance friends who speak on the phone monthly also tend to communicate via electronic mail.
B. The communication patterns of friendships increase around holidays and birthdays.
C. The individuals who only communicate with their long-distance friends via electronic mail tend to have closer relationships with their nearby friends (those living in the same town, village, or city) than do the individuals who speak with their long-distance friends monthly.
D. According to another study, most people can easily control the amount of time they spend on the phone with long-distance friends.
E. People in long-distance friendships sometimes grow apart because of diverging lifestyles, and so they stop making the effort to speak with their friend on the phone.

Argument concludes with the statement that electronic mail doesn't help to maintain the long distance friendship.

to weaken the argument, we have to find out the statements that shows either advantages with electronic mails or disadvantages with problems with phone friendship.

Option E identifies the weakness and hence included as a premise then entire argument will be weakened.

Option C, tends to compare different things. it says that people communicating with their long-distance friends via electronic mail can have more closer friends in same town than do other people.

So, option E is the answer.

Sorry, but I dont agree with this. Just because phone is not good does not mean email is good. It is no where mentioned in E that email is good. Only A looks best of all.

Providing a new cause to a cause-effect relationship weakens it. This is what choice E does.

conclusion says reliance on electronic mail jeopardize friendship i.e.
Cause [reliance on mail (i.e. not on phone call)] ---> Effect [jeopardized friendship]

Choice E : Another Cause [diverging lifestyles] ---> Same effect [friendships sometimes grow apart i.e. jeopardized friendship]

Hi experts,
In my 2 cents,the correct option should be A as it casts doubt on the effect of the mobile phone to long-distance relation.It could be that electronic mail is indeed what strengthen the relationships since those who use mobile phone also communicate with their close friends via email.

B is plainly out of scope.

C is also out of scope.The argument is about the long-distance relation;however,this option discuss about the effect of types of communication to the proximate relation.

D is again out of scope.We know nothing about the correlation between time and each means of communication.

E is out of scope.This option focuses on people who don't make a call to their friend,but no clue to relate this information with our argument.They may not at all contact with their distant friends.

There is no OA for this question,and I am not sure with my reasoning.
Please help validate

Regards

This is a typical structure for GMAT weaken type questions:

Observation: A and B are observed to happen together.
Conclusion: A causes B.

Weakening Statement: B causes A.

In the above question:
A = Not talking over phone
B = grow apart in relation

The passage states that A and B are seen to happen together. Conclusion drawn is that A causes B.

Option E states that B causes A (Because they grow apart, they talk less, and not the other way round as concluded), thereby weakening the conclusion.

Option E is correct. OA added.

Good question. Could you please mention the source of the problem ?

Thanks

In simple words, argument Says A causes B
We can weaken it by saying B causes A or X causes A

Statement E does the same. It says B causes A
Lack of phone communication don't cause the friends to grow apart, but friends grow apart leading to lack of communication

Reluctantly picked E because the others were more justifiably wrong.
My thinking is that E provides a different explanation as to why people who talk only via email tend to be less close over time.
E suggests that the reason people stop being close is due to diverging lifestyles, not because they only communicate via email.

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