In response to a recent survey conducted by a newspaper in Quantos

Question

In response to a recent survey conducted by a newspaper in Quantos city, 70% of the respondents stated that they are very happy with the performance of the mayor and 20% stated that they are reasonably happy with the performance of the mayor. Only 10% of the respondents stated that they were unhappy with the performance of the mayor. So, it seems safe to conclude that the residents of Quantos City are in general happy with the mayor’s performance.

Which of the following options most strongly weakens the above argument?

(A) The mayor has been in the news a lot lately because of corruption charges that have been pressed against him.

(B) The primary readership of the newspaper that conducted the survey comprises the economically well to do people, a demographic that makes up only 20% of the population of Quantos City.

(C) The crime rate in Quantos City has not gone down during the term of the mayor.

(D) The mayor is against the abolition of property tax in Quantos City whereas most of the residents of the city are in favour of such a move.

(E) The survey is representative of the entire population of Quantos City.

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Vardaan6117 · Answer

The argument relies on the survey results to conclude that residents of Quantos City are generally happy with the mayor's performance. However, option (B) weakens this argument by revealing a critical flaw in the survey's methodology: the primary readership of the newspaper that conducted the survey consists of economically well-to-do people, who represent only 20% of the city's population. This indicates that the survey sample is not representative of the entire population, as it likely overrepresents a specific demographic that may have different views on the mayor's performance. If the survey primarily reflects the opinions of this wealthy minority, the high percentage of happy respondents may not accurately represent the sentiments of the broader population, thus undermining the conclusion.

The other options do not as effectively weaken the argument:

(A) discusses corruption charges, but this does not directly challenge the survey's validity or the respondents' expressed happiness.

(C) mentions the crime rate, which may be a performance issue but does not address the survey's representativeness.

(D) highlights a policy disagreement, but again, this does not invalidate the survey results.

(E) strengthens the argument by asserting that the survey is representative, which contradicts the weakening intent.

Thus, (B) provides the strongest weakening effect by questioning the survey's representativeness.

Answer: (B)

paragw · Answer

Let's eliminate the statements to get the right answer:
(A) Corruption charges do not show that the survey results are not representative; eliminates this.

(B) If the survey only reflects the views of wealthy people (20% of population), the conclusion about "residents in general" is not valid. This strongly weakens the argument.

(C) Crime rate statistics do not directly address the reliability of the survey data; eliminates this.

(D) The mayor's opinion on property tax is unrelated to whether the survey is representative; eliminates this.

(E) If true, this supports the conclusion rather than weakens it; eliminates this.

Answer: B is the strongest weakener.

Dereno · Answer

A newspaper recently conducted a survey in Quantos city, where the outcome of the survey results were in favour of the mayors performance . Let’s take a closer look at the survey results:

70% respondents - very happy

20% respondents- reasonably happy.

10% respondents- unhappy.

So, they conclude that the residents of Quantos City are in general happy with the mayor’s performance.

We need to weaken the statement. Let’s dive into options directly.

(A) The mayor has been in the news a lot lately because of corruption charges that have been pressed against him.

Option A - mentions about the charges pressed but still not proven, as it can turn tide either way. Moreover, this doesn’t weaken the argument in anyway. Hence, Wrong.

(B) The primary readership of the newspaper that conducted the survey comprises the economically well to do people, a demographic that makes up only 20% of the population of Quantos City.

If the total population is Quantos is 100, and the number of economically well to do people is 20, amongst 20, 18 support the ,ayor and 2 vote against the mayor. If the rest of the population is going against the mayor in majority, then the chance of mayor winning back is difficult. Hence, a weakener.

(C) The crime rate in Quantos City has not gone down during the term of the mayor.

Option C might throw a little bit of suspicion on the mayor, but as 90% of the respondents were in favor. This doesn’t hold ground against the survey results. Hence, doesn’t weaken the argument.

(D) The mayor is against the abolition of property tax in Quantos City whereas most of the residents of the city are in favour of such a move.

Option D speaks about mayors personal decision while the abolition might be the collective decision of the legislature, which may or may not support the proposal. More over this doesn’t influence the survey results in any way. Hence wrong.

(E) The survey is representative of the entire population of Quantos City.

If the survey is a representative of the entire population, then this is a strengthening factor and not a weakener. Hence, wrong.

Option B

RudrakshaHere · Answer

It is clear from the passage that any weakening that has to be done, has to be on the percentages mentioned in the passage. Anything else is just extra information and does not contribute to the argument. One thing that may definitely weaken the argument is if the sample set of the people itself was flawed.  Option B  is the closest to this reasoning.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

The Conclusion

The residents of Quantos City are in general happy with the mayor’s performance.

The Evidence

The majority of respondents to a survey have expressed satisfaction with the mayor’s performance.

The Assumption

The assumption is where the representativeness factor will come into play. What if this survey was conducted only amongst the economically well off residents? It is possible then that the poorer residents of Quantos City may actually be unhappy with the mayor’s performance, but their views haven’t been taken into consideration at all in this survey. So for the argument to hold true, the author of the argument has to assume that the survey mentioned in the argument is representative of the opinion of the entire population of Quantos city. B questions this assumption and should be the correct answer.

Let’s look at the other options as well for clarity.

(A) The point still stands that a majority of the respondents to the survey have said that they are happy with the mayor’s performance.

(B) The correct answer.

(C) Same as A.

(D) Same as A. Why are people then saying that they are satisfied with the mayor’s performance? Maybe this is not such a big issue for the people then.

(E) This actually strengthens the argument by stating that the survey is absolutely correct.

In general, whenever you see the terms  survey, poll, research, study, etc. , mentioned in the evidence of any argument, immediately question whether this survey/poll/research is representative of the larger population as a whole. This will always be the assumption in the argument.

Then if you have to strengthen the argument, you will have to show that the survey/poll/research is indeed representative of the larger population whereas if you have to weaken the argument you will have to show that the survey/poll/research may not be representative of the larger population.

In response to a recent survey conducted by a newspaper in Quantos

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