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I think this is a poor-quality question and the explanation isn't clear enough, please elaborate.
­
Sure. Here are 100 different ways to explain this question: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-club-ol ... 32196.html­
Let me know what part of the explanation is not clear enough.
Thank you.
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Option B doesn't tell me why countries with higher rates of internet censorship have higher rates of internet usage per capita.

If people of Country X (with restriction) bypass restrictions, then this country is as good as Country Y (without restrictions). What accounts for a higher usage per capita?

Option E is the best of the lot since it directly points towards a sample flaw. I strongly believe B is not the right answer. What am I missing?

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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Hi suranamohit2694 let me try to help.

­Economist: A recent survey found that in countries with higher rates of internet censorship, there are also higher rates of internet usage per capita.-
So an Economist is an author here, he referred to the survey that tells Higher rates of Internet censorship-> higher rates of internet usage

This seems counterintuitive because one might expect that restrictions on internet content would deter usage.- According to an argument, this data is surprising because if there is high rate of censorship, then the internet usage has to be lower.

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

The question asks to find why this trend is present. So we have to find another premise that justifies the paradox shown, the best among the given options

Lets evaluate B and E

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 says that the survey is not representative and attacks the premise; however, in a paradox, we have to consider the premise as fact, and we can't challenge it. We are not here to weaken the argument. So eliminated

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 option tells that residents use proxy servers and VPNs, which helps to access a broader range of content; if the content range is broad, usage will be too; basically, it justifies why there is a higher rate of internet usage even though the censorship rate is higher.

Hope this helps

suranamohit2694
Option B doesn't tell me why countries with higher rates of internet censorship have higher rates of internet usage per capita.

If people of Country X (with restriction) bypass restrictions, then this country is as good as Country Y (without restrictions). What accounts for a higher usage per capita?

Option E is the best of the lot since it directly points towards a sample flaw. I strongly believe B is not the right answer. What am I missing?


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Then shouldn't the question use "high per capita usage" instead of "higher per capita usage"?

"Higher" is comparative. In the question what are we comparing the usage per capita with?
AbhishekP220108
Hi suranamohit2694 let me try to help.

­Economist: A recent survey found that in countries with higher rates of internet censorship, there are also higher rates of internet usage per capita.-
So an Economist is an author here, he referred to the survey that tells Higher rates of Internet censorship-> higher rates of internet usage

This seems counterintuitive because one might expect that restrictions on internet content would deter usage.- According to an argument, this data is surprising because if there is high rate of censorship, then the internet usage has to be lower.

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

The question asks to find why this trend is present. So we have to find another premise that justifies the paradox shown, the best among the given options

Lets evaluate B and E

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 says that the survey is not representative and attacks the premise; however, in a paradox, we have to consider the premise as fact, and we can't challenge it. We are not here to weaken the argument. So eliminated

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 option tells that residents use proxy servers and VPNs, which helps to access a broader range of content; if the content range is broad, usage will be too; basically, it justifies why there is a higher rate of internet usage even though the censorship rate is higher.

Hope this helps


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Hi suranamohit2694 well thats quite an observation, however the premise is given as correlation and its not that the restrictions are high or at some maximum level. Also the comparison was mentioned between the countries in terms of restriction

Like suppose there are 3 countries A B and C

A has 30 restrictions and 1gb/person
B has 35 restrictions and 1.5gb/person
C has 42 restrictions and 2gb/person

And the questions asks why is that relation exist, so that is the comparison.

Hope its clear


suranamohit2694
Then shouldn't the question use "high per capita usage" instead of "higher per capita usage"?

"Higher" is comparative. In the question what are we comparing the usage per capita with?
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