John usually sorts incoming mail, such as bills and legal papers, into

Question

John usually sorts incoming mail, such as bills and legal papers, into different folders according to various criteria. When he needs a specific document, John looks for it in the appropriate folder. However, if John mistakenly puts a letter into the wrong folder, he will not find it later when he looks in the appropriate folder. Jane hypothesizes that refraining from sorting the letters, but rather searching through all of them when necessary, would be more efficient.

Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help evaluate Jane's hypothesis?

Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help evaluate Jane's hypothesis?

A. Stopping the sorting, and seeing whether John is pleased with the new system

B. Using each method for a month, and seeing which has more sorting errors

C. Comparing the time it takes to sort the letters with the time it takes to find a misplaced letter

D. Comparing the look-up time without sorting with the look-up time in case of a sorting error

E. Comparing the time saved by having pre-sorted folders to the time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors

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Akashgovind1997 · Answer

Bunuel  I feel its option C
but not sure. help me with the explanation

Whoisdmx15 · Answer

A. Stopping the sorting, and seeing whether John is pleased with the new system  Eliminated  Out of context.

B. Using each method for a month, and seeing which has more sorting errors  Eliminated  Out of Context. even if we know the average no of sorting errors, we need to check for the duration to look up during such errors.

C. Comparing the time it takes to sort the letters with the time it takes to find a misplaced letter  Eliminated  Seems to be intentionally confusing. Comparing time to sort and time to look up a misplaced letter, does not take into account the time taken to locate a letter when they are not sorted.

D. Comparing the look-up time without sorting with the look-up time in case of a sorting error  Suitable  These seem to be comparable cases. As looking up in case there is no sorting error and all letters are sorted should be negligibly small compared to: a. When no sorting has been done, b. When wrong sorting has been done.

E. Comparing the time saved by having pre-sorted folders to the time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors  Eliminated  Seems out of context.

Although I am not fully certain,  but the answer seems to be D

Ratanp · Answer

E

As it gives us a method or mechanism to evaluate jane's hypothesis compared to the method used by john by having pre sorted folders. Thus giving us the process to evaluate which method helps get the document without wasting too much of the time on sorting the file and on sorting the errors and

bhargavhhhhhhhh · Answer

Given: 
- John sorts his mail into different folders but may misplace letters, making it hard to find them later.
- Jane hypothesizes that searching through all the letters without sorting them would be more efficient.

Step 1: Investigate which approach provides meaningful data to evaluate Jane’s hypothesis.

(A) Stopping the sorting and seeing if John is pleased with the new system.
- This only checks if John is satisfied, not the actual efficiency of the methods.
- Not the best option.

(B) Using each method for a month, and seeing which has more sorting errors.
- This focuses on sorting errors but doesn't provide data on the overall efficiency of searching or time-saving.
- Not the best option.

(C) Comparing the time it takes to sort the letters with the time it takes to find a misplaced letter.
- This addresses time spent on sorting vs. finding misplaced letters, but it doesn’t consider overall efficiency of the two methods.
- Somewhat useful but not complete.

(D) Comparing the look-up time without sorting with the look-up time in case of a sorting error.
- This directly compares the efficiency of finding letters with and without sorting, which helps evaluate Jane’s hypothesis.
- Strong option.

(E) Comparing the time saved by having pre-sorted folders to the time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors.
- This compares the time spent on sorting and errors, which is very relevant to assessing the overall efficiency of both methods.
- The best option.

Answer: E. Comparing the time saved by having pre-sorted folders to the time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors.

HarshithaAKumar · Answer

Hi  Bunuel ,

I think the answer is D.

E talks about pre-sorted folders, which is not relevant. As per the question, are we not supposed to strength Jane's claim.

Thanks for your time!

Suyash1331 · Answer

Why is E correct? 
We need information to evaluate Jane's hypothesis. however E is comparing time saved by pre sorting vs time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors. this option does not compare any metric of Jane's suggested method with John's method. this option is just focussed on checking the efficacy of John's method alone

Suyash1331 · Answer

It can't be C as it is only comparing the two metrics of John's method and not showing a comparison between Jane and John's method

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

John usually sorts incoming mail, such as bills and legal papers, into different folders according to various criteria. When he needs a specific document, John looks for it in the appropriate folder. However, if John mistakenly puts a letter into the wrong folder, he will not find it later when he looks in the appropriate folder. Jane hypothesizes that refraining from sorting the letters, but rather searching through all of them when necessary, would be more efficient.

Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help evaluate Jane's hypothesis?

Which of the following investigations is most likely to yield significant information that would help evaluate Jane's hypothesis?

A. Stopping the sorting, and seeing whether John is pleased with the new system

Incorrect.

In this variation of Investigation questions, you are required to find which method of investigation will be most useful in evaluating Jane's conclusion. To do so, first break down the argument. The first three sentences are factual - premises. The last sentence contains the conclusion phrase hypothesizes that, indicating it's the conclusion:

Premise A: John usually sorts mail into folders according to subject
 +
Premise B: when he needs a specific document, he looks for it in the appropriate folder
 +
Premise C: if John puts a letter into a folder with an unsuitable subject, he won't be able to find it later
 =
Jane's Hypothesis: if John stopped sorting the letters and just looked through all of them every time he needed one, he would be more efficient

Relevant Investigation: ?

The correct answer is a method of investigation which could support or weaken the conclusion depending on its outcome, i.e., an investigation that tests the most crucial factor.

This answer choice suggests an investigation that will allow us too see whether John likes the new system better. However, knowing if John would be happy would not really help us discover if the second system is more efficient than the first, which is the task at hand.

B. Using each method for a month, and seeing which has more sorting errors

Incorrect.

This answer choice suggests a comparison between the number of sorting errors in each method over a month. However, since there is no sorting involved in the second system (and therefore no sorting errors), this may inaccurately portray it as a more effective system.

The truth of the matter is that even though the second system has no sorting errors, merely going all over the letters may take longer than it would to have a sorting error every now and then.

C. Comparing the time it takes to sort the letters with the time it takes to find a misplaced letter

Incorrect.

This answer choice suggests a comparison between two factors of the first system - sorting time and look-up time in case there is an error - instead of comparing factors of both systems. Since nothing about the second system is discussed we cannot determine which system is more efficient.

D. Comparing the look-up time without sorting with the look-up time in case of a sorting error

Incorrect.

This answer choice illogically compares two identical things. Looking up a letter without having previously sorted it practically means going though all the letters. Looking up a letter in case John cannot find it in its designated folder also means going through all the letters in all the folders. Therefore, this test will not give us any relevant or new information.

E. Comparing the time saved by having pre-sorted folders to the time wasted on sorting and on sorting errors

This answer choice suggests we compare the advantages and disadvantages of John's method over Jane's suggestion. John saves time by having pre-sorted letters, but he also wastes time on sorting the letters and an occasional sorting error.

If the time saved by having pre-sorted letters is greater (>) than the time wasted on sorting them and on an occasional sorting error, then John's system is more efficient than Jane's.

However, if the opposite is true and the time wasted on sorting mail and on misplaced letters is greater (>) than the time saved by having organized folders, then John's system is less efficient as Jane claims.

Either way, comparing the advantages and disadvantages is the correct investigation which would help us evaluate Jane's hypothesis.

John usually sorts incoming mail, such as bills and legal papers, into

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John usually sorts incoming mail, such as bills and legal papers, into

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