Ice cream shop owner: Over the past six months, we have surveyed custo

Question

Ice cream shop owner: Over the past six months, we have surveyed customers about the flavors they enjoy. The results show that our special Chocolate Fudge Chunk was chosen more than any other flavor. In response, we have created a new flavor called Fudge Overload. We believe anyone who enjoys Chocolate Fudge Chunk will enjoy this new flavor. If our belief is correct, then most of our surveyed customers are bound to enjoy Fudge Overload.

Which of the following indicates a flaw in the reasoning above?

(A) The people who responded to the survey may not be representative of the shop's customers overall.

(B) There may be other new flavors that customers would enjoy more than Fudge Overload.

(C) Some customers may have responded that they enjoyed more than just one flavor.

(D) The option most often selected by a group of people may not be selected by most of those people.

(E) To avoid being disappointed, some customers may be unwilling to try new flavors.

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okHedwig · Answer

Hi

I think the correct answer as A

(A) The people who responded to the survey may not be representative of the shop's customers overall - most suited if the people who responded in the survey are not the shop's customers, then the shop owner's analysis is a flaw

(B) There may be other new flavors that customers would enjoy more than Fudge Overload.- here it mentions customers to enjoy new flavours more than FO, but no such claim is made by the shop owner so out.

(C) Some customers may have responded that they enjoyed more than just one flavor - here "some" is mentioned which seems nok

(D) The option most often selected by a group of people may not be selected by most of those people - Nok since no comparison of group & individual selection is made

(E) To avoid being disappointed, some customers may be unwilling to try new flavors - this could be true, but this is not reflecting the major flaw

Hence A.

Please let me know if my answer is correct. Thank you!

ajain31 · Answer

I put down D, as this directly identifies the flaw,confusing most popular with liked by a majority. The argument assumes that the flavour getting the most votes means it was liked by most people, which is logically flawed.

pappal · Answer

not A- our conclusion is about surveyed customers, however A talks about all customers
not B- just a general statement ,not related to surveyed customers(conclusion)
not C- it states some of responded customers, however conclusion states most of surveyed customers
not E- some vs most issue (like C)
 so I got it through negation.
Correction is welcomed

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Identify the Question Type

The question directly asks for a "flaw in the reasoning," making this a Flaw question.

Untangle the Stimulus

In a survey, more people claimed to enjoy a particular flavor of ice cream, Chocolate Fudge Chunk, than any other flavor. Based on these results, the ice cream shop owner concludes that most of the people surveyed will enjoy a similar flavor, Fudge Overload.

Predict the Answer

There are a lot of potential problems that the ice cream shop owner is careful to avoid. The owner avoids making assumptions about people's tastes by directly arguing the conclusion only works "if" people who enjoy one flavor also enjoy the new, similar flavor. The owner also avoids representativeness issues, often a problem when a survey is relied on for evidence, by drawing a conclusion merely about survey respondents and not about the shop's customer base in general. The ultimate flaw is about numbers. The evidence is that "more" people chose Chocolate Fudge Chunk than any other flavor. However, the conclusion is about "most" people. The term most means more than half of those surveyed. However, if the shops has lots of flavors, it's possible that only a small proportion of people chose Chocolate Fudge Chunk (e.g., 20%). In that case, it's possible that most people don't like Chocolate Fudge Chunk (which would be a shame), but their votes were spread out among the other flavors (e.g., only 10% of people voted for each of the other flavors).

Evaluate the Choices

(D) is correct. What's selected more than anything else doesn't have to be selected by most people.

(A) is irrelevant. The conclusion is only about the customers surveyed, so what's true of customers overall is not an issue.

(B) is irrelevant. The owner isn't arguing that people will like the new flavor more than any other potential flavor.

(C) is irrelevant. Even if this were true, Chocolate Fudge Chunk was still chosen most often and, if it were in fact chosen by most surveyed customers, the shop owner would have a valid argument.

(E) is irrelevant. This may not be true of those who like Chocolate Fudge Chunk. And even if it does apply, what's true of a few stubborn customers does not necessarily reflect what's true of most other customers.

TAKEAWAY:  Read conclusions carefully. Common argument flaws may not be an issue if the author is careful to address such concerns.

cattoochan · Answer

the shop argues that most of their SURVEYED customers will enjoy this flavour it doesnt predict anything about the unsurveyed customers thats why i dont think a is right

Ice cream shop owner: Over the past six months, we have surveyed custo

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Ice cream shop owner: Over the past six months, we have surveyed custo

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