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805+ Level|   Evaluate Argument|         
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:00
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Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:30
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Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
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GMAT Club Official Explanation:



Correct Answer: (B)

Note that this is the "most helpful" question type, which means that multiple answer choices may be helpful but your job is to pick the most helpful one, so just picking a helpful answer choice is not sufficient.

Option A: Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
Incorrect. This option concerns long-term job retention, while the hypothesis is about short-term performance improvements caused by a shift in perception. Information about retention does not help evaluate whether the perception change caused the productivity gains.

Option B: Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
Correct. If the workers who received the message became more focused and reduced distractions, that behavioral change could explain the performance improvement. This directly addresses whether a change in self-perception caused the observed effect, making it highly useful in evaluating the hypothesis.

Option C: Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
Incorrect. The argument already assumes both groups were comparable at baseline since they were chosen at random. Unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, this information does not help evaluate whether the perception shift led to better performance.

Option D: Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
Incorrect. Satisfaction with pay is unrelated to the argument. The hypothesis is about how perceiving work as cognitively demanding and important affects task performance, not how it affects attitudes toward compensation.

Option E: Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Incorrect. General beliefs about clerical work in the population are outside the scope of the argument. The hypothesis concerns how a specific change in the participants’ perception affected their behavior and performance, not public opinion.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:20
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The answer is B.
A-> it talks about positions long term,we are not interested in that.
C-> the members were randomly assigned,so no
D-> it talks about pay,not interested
E-> related to some background info,so no

B will be useful because if the members spent less time on their distractions, it would provide an alternative explanation for the increase in performance.

So B is the answer.
Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:26
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Let's check the each option:

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term.
This relates to job retention and satisfaction, which are potential outcomes of perceiving work as important. However, it doesn't directly help in determining if the performance gains observed in this experiment were caused by the increased perception of importance. It's about a long-term effect, not the immediate cause of the observed productivity change.

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message.
This is a very strong contender. If the first group reduced their time on personal distractions (e.g., checking social media, taking personal calls) because they felt their work was more important and engaging, then this would be an intermediate step or a mechanism directly supporting the hypothesis. The hypothesis states that the perception led to gains. If that perception led to more focused work (less distraction), it strengthens the link. If they spent more time on distractions, it would weaken the hypothesis. This offers an alternative, more direct explanation for the improved performance, still stemming from the message but not necessarily directly from "cognitive engagement" in the pure sense, but from increased focus due to perceived importance.

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks.
This is about the experimental design and ensuring the groups were truly comparable at the outset. The problem states they were "randomly assigned to two equal groups," which is intended to control for such pre-existing differences. While important for a robust study, determining this after the fact doesn't directly evaluate the researchers' hypothesis about the cause of the observed change; it evaluates the soundness of the initial setup. The question asks what would be most useful in evaluating the hypothesis about the cause of the performance gains.

(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message.
Changes in pay satisfaction are a separate variable. While feeling more important might indirectly lead to greater job satisfaction (which could include pay satisfaction), the hypothesis specifically links performance gains to the perception of work as "mentally engaging and important," not to satisfaction with pay. If their pay satisfaction increased, it would be another potential outcome, not necessarily the direct cause of the typing speed/error reduction, and it doesn't directly test the "mentally engaging and important" mechanism.

(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding.
This provides context about the general perception of such tasks, which aligns with the premise of the experiment (that a message was needed to change this perception). However, it doesn't help evaluate whether the change in perception (brought about by the message) was the cause of the performance gains in this specific experiment. It just confirms why the message was necessary.

Why (B) is the best answer:

The hypothesis proposes that the perception of work as mentally engaging and important led to performance gains. If workers in the first group, due to this changed perception, became more focused on their tasks and less distracted, this provides a direct behavioral mechanism linking the perception to the outcome. If they continued to be just as distracted, it would weaken the idea that the perception of importance/engagement was the key driver of the performance. It offers a tangible, measurable behavior that would directly support or undermine the proposed causal link.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:35
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Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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The aim here is to determine the performance and experience ,hence option C clearly summaries this.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:39
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The first group was given the message that work will be cognitively demanding and critical to the company’s operations. Upon hearing this message clerical workers who perceive their jobs are important are likely to stay in the long term.
Those who have stated away from distractions will also need a motivation to stay in the current job. Point B is not applicable.
The other points doesn’t support the argument , hence A is the answer .
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:43
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Information given:
- Researchers split clerical workers into two groups
- One group was told their routine tasks were cognitively demanding and vital. The other group got no message
- The 'message' group improved typing speed and reduced errors, working the same hours under identical conditions
- The researchers hypothesize that the gains were due to workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important

Question:
- Which of the following would be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers' hypothesis?

Solution:
- A: Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
- Out of scope, retention isn't relevant. The hypothesis is about whether perceived importance increased performance, not about whether they'll keep the job.
- Invalid.

- B: Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
- Directly relevant. If the message caused workers to reduce distractions, that's a clear mechanism explaining why performance improved.
- Confirms or disconfirms that the boost came from increased mental engagement, not some other factor.
- Valid.

- C: Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
- Baseline experience is controlled by random assignment, they were equally split to begin with. Also, 'prior experience' wouldn't explain the effect of the message.
- Invalid.

- D: Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
- Pay satisfaction is unrelated to the hypothesis. The researchers focus on perceived cognitive engagement, not pay.
- Invalid.

- E: Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
- The question is whether the message changed perceptions, not what people generally think about clerical tasks.
- Invalid.

Answer: B, Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message

Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:46
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Option (C) is crucial because if the “message” group happened to have more hands‐on typing or office experience to begin with, their higher speed and accuracy might simply reflect greater skill rather than the boost from feeling their work was important. By checking that both groups had similar prior experience, we can rule out that alternative explanation and more confidently attribute any performance jump to the motivational message itself.
The other choices miss the point:

(A) looks at who stays in a job long term, not at why a short‐term speed‐and‐accuracy boost occurred.
(B) focuses on time spent daydreaming or chatting, but even if distractions fell, that doesn’t tell us whether the message made the work feel more mentally engaging.
(D) asks about pay satisfaction, which is unrelated to whether seeing the work as important sharpened their performance.
(E) wonders how people in general view clerical tasks, but we already know these tasks are often seen as routine; what matters here is whether the two experimental groups were alike in experience before the message went out.

Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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Premise: One group of clerical workers was told their tasks were cognitively demanding and vital; the other group received no such message.
Premise: The first group showed significant performance improvements.
Conclusion/Hypothesis: The performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.
To evaluate this hypothesis, we need information that would either strengthen or weaken the proposed causal relationship between perception of work and performance improvement.
(B) Correct. This choice directly addresses a potential mechanism for the observed effect. If workers in the first group reduced their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message about their work's importance, this would provide evidence for how the perception change led to performance improvements. Alternatively, if they didn't change their distraction habits, we'd need to look for another explanation. Either way, this information would help us evaluate whether the perception change was truly the cause of the performance improvement.
(A) Incorrect. Long-term retention doesn't help evaluate the short-term performance improvements observed in the study. The hypothesis is specifically about performance gains, not job retention.
(C) Incorrect. While prior experience could affect baseline performance, the researchers used random assignment to create equal groups, which should have balanced this factor between groups. Additionally, the hypothesis is about changes in performance due to perception, not about absolute performance levels.
D) Incorrect. Pay satisfaction is not mentioned in the hypothesis. The researchers attribute the performance gains to perception of the work as mentally engaging and important, not to satisfaction with compensation
(E) Incorrect. The common perception of clerical tasks in general doesn't help us evaluate whether the specific intervention (telling workers their tasks were important) caused the performance improvement in this particular study.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:52
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(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term. This is about retention, not performance.

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
This addresses behavioral change due to the message.
If they focused more, it supports the idea that engagement improved, leading to better performance.

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
Random assignment likely controlled for this.
Plus, performance differences emerged after the message, not before.

(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
Pay satisfaction is unrelated to the hypothesis.
The study is about engagement with tasks, not compensation.

(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
That’s background info — it helps explain why the message might be surprising.
But doesn’t help evaluate whether the message caused the performance change.

Answer B
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:53
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The hypothesis is that "the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important."

To evaluate this hypothesis, we need to know if the cause (increased perception) is truly linked to the effect (performance gains), and if there are any alternative explanations.

Let's look at the options:

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term

This relates to job retention and satisfaction, not directly to current performance gains (typing speed, error reduction) or the hypothesized cause. It doesn't help confirm or deny that the perception led to the performance.

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message

This is highly relevant! If the first group spent less time on personal distractions (e.g., checking social media, chatting) because they perceived their work as more engaging, that could be the direct cause of their increased typing speed and error reduction. This would provide a mechanism for how the "increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important" translated into performance gains. If they spent less time on distractions, it supports the idea that their changed perception led to a change in behavior, which then led to the performance. If they didn't, it might weaken the link or suggest another mechanism. This helps evaluate how the perception influenced performance.

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks

The problem states that workers were "randomly assigned to two equal groups." Random assignment is designed to minimize pre-existing differences between groups, including prior experience. While confirming it would be good for experimental rigor, the random assignment already suggests this difference should be minimal and likely not the cause of the change observed after the message. This primarily relates to the validity of the experiment's design, not directly the hypothesis about why the change occurred.

(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message

Pay satisfaction is a different factor from perception of work engagement and importance. While it might influence overall morale, the hypothesis specifically links perception of work to performance gains. Pay satisfaction could be an effect of higher morale, but it's not the cause proposed by the researchers.

(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding

This provides background information about the general perception of these tasks. It helps explain why the message was significant ("cognitively demanding and vital"). However, knowing the common perception doesn't help evaluate whether in this specific experiment, the change in perception (from the message) actually caused the performance gains. The experiment already establishes that one group was told their tasks were important, implying a shift in perception for that group.

Conclusion:

Option (B) is most useful because it probes the mechanism by which the hypothesized cause (increased perception of engagement/importance) could have led to the observed effect (performance gains). If the workers became less distracted because they found the work more engaging, it directly supports the researchers' hypothesis. If their distraction levels didn't change, it suggests the performance gains might have resulted from another factor related to the message, or the hypothesis might be incomplete.

The final answer is B
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 08:59
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Ans: B

Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
Message was regarding the importance of work and impact was improved performance. argument did not talk about the long term position impact.

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
If the first group changed their time spent on personal distraction after the message, then it is an indication that they accepted the message and started regarding the task as crucial as conveyed. This supports the hypothesis that the message was the key part in performance improvement.

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
Prior experience is irrelevant as the argument talks about the relative improvement (my understanding) during the period given and relative to their own performance.

(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
Pay satisfaction is not part of the discussion and not used in the hypothesis.

(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
cognitive abilities of the group are not discussed in the argument ( in hypothesis)
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:09
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Going with B

If the groups changed their habits after listening to the message and their productivity increased because of decreased distractions, then it was not really the perception of their work being mentally engaging that changed the productivity.

Moreover, rejected C because the two groups are stated to be equal
Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:15
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in evaluate questions a yes to the statement should strengthen the argument and a no should weaken it.
A) We are not concerned with how long they stay for this situation.
B)Yes maybe they did maybe they found the increased efficiency elsewhere. Maybe they never used to bathroom and used that time to work. Does't matter.

C) If one group was inexperienced then that would break the argument. If both groups where equal in experience that will strengthen the argument. CORRECT.
D)Pay???&*(U9 What!! Who's talking about pay. get out of here.
E) it dont matter what is commonly perceived, but what the workers perceived.
Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:17
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argument:
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions.

conclusion The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?


applying variance test on all options


(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
Yes , the clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term ; is not relevant

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
Yes, those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message ; strengthens the conclusion
No, those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message; weakens the conclusion

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks ; not relevant as we cannot evaluate to argument
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


OPTION B is correct
Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:24
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Since this is an "evaluate" argument, we use the extreme test on the answer choices:


(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
  • Knowing the retention of the clerical workers, especially for the first group only, is not going to help us evaluate. Eliminate
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
  • This just mentions the time "changed", we can't attribute another reason for their productivity to increase if we don't know whether there was another cause (time spent on distractions) where they allocated more or less time. Eliminate
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
  • Whether or not they had prior experience doesn't matter in evaluating the argument. See, the results of their productivity have been measured per group, so group 1 before and after getting the message, had better productivity; their experience on the job remains the same. Eliminate
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
  • Satisfaction with pay is irrelevant to evaluating the argument. We are to evaluate if the message caused the increase the productivity, not if it caused increased satisfaction with pay. Eliminate
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
  • If the answer to this is Yes - it strengthens the argument that both groups before the study perceived their job to be undemanding. Then one group was told that their job is demanding and that increased their productivity.
  • If the answer to this is No - it weakens the argument, because both groups could have perceived their job to be demanding in the first place, making the message received by the first group redundant. Keep.

E seems like the best choice.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:35
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The key to evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis—that improved performance was caused by the workers’ increased perception of their tasks as important—is to ensure that the two groups were comparable before the intervention. Option (C) asks whether both groups had equal prior experience with clerical tasks, which is critical because if one group was more skilled initially, their improvement might not be due to the message but to preexisting differences, weakening the hypothesis. Option (A) about long-term job retention is unrelated to immediate performance changes. Option (B), about time spent on personal distractions, could be relevant but doesn’t directly confirm whether the message affected perception or just behavior. Option (D), satisfaction with pay, is unlikely to impact the cognitive engagement explanation. Option (E), about general perceptions of clerical tasks, doesn’t address whether the specific message changed the first group’s mindset or behavior. Therefore, confirming equal prior experience (C) is most useful to validate that the message caused the observed performance gains.
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:48
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A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term.......Out of Scope
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message....This explains, if group 1 saw the work as mentally engaging and important and so they decreased distractions....... This affects whether the researchers claim is valid or not......possible Answer
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks........They were randomly assigned...... No
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message.....Out of scope
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding.....( Irrelevant)

B
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:51
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Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term => Whether they remain in position or not will not have any impact as it does not help in finding whether the perception helped the employees or any other thing.

(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message => This directly gives us alternate explanation of why first group performed better. if we do Yes, No test if this is yes then it weaken the conclusion. if no then strengthens the conclusion so lets keep this

(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks => again even if they have variable experience. the change in one month is relative to their before conditions so this does not impact anything so not the ans

(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message => Satisfaction of workers is out of scope and it does not have any impact on evaluating the conclusion. so not the ans.

(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding => How clerical tasks are perceived or not are not relevant. we are discussing about first group and second group and their performance so how tasks are perceived are of no use so not the ans

Hence Ans B
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GMAT Club Olympics 2025 (Day 5): Researchers studying workplace produc 04 Jul 2025, 09:53
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Bunuel
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?

(A) Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
(B) Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
(C) Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
(D) Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
(E) Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding


 


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A. Irrelevant, as there is no mention about the length of their positions.
B. This question serves no purpose as whether the group changes its distraction or not is not correlate in argument. we will bring outside information if we beielve less distractions equals to significant increase in typing speed and error reduction.
C. Correct, this serves as a good question as the argument weakens if any of the group had prior experience because then there is already an inherent bias.
D. Greater satisfaction is not discussed in the passage. rather significant increase in typing speed and error reduction is being discussed about.
E. this again does not server any purpose as route tasks are cognitively undermanding does not concern the core argument of significant increase in typing speed and error reduction.
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