Official Solution:According to an analysis of the ten most popular primetime TV programs from 2001 to 2011, the popularity of the reality television genre has fallen considerably from its peak in 2007, while the general drama category has reclaimed much of its lost ground. This analysis, however, must clearly be unfounded since both the current number one and number three shows are reality programs.
The answer to which one of the following questions would contribute most to an evaluation of the argument? A. To what extent are the number one and number three reality programs representative of their genre as a whole?
B. What was the statistical norm in popularity of the reality genre prior to its peak in 2007?
C. How many new reality television programs have been released since 2007?
D. What proportion of reality television programs that were once unpopular have seen a resurgence in popularity?
E. Of the reality programs that are still popular, how many are profitable?
Question Type: Evaluate
Boil It Down (Simplified & Abbreviated Summary of the Prompt): Reality #1 and #3, so rankings that reality dropped are wrong
Missing Information (assumption): The #1 and #3 slots are relevant to the overall movement in popularity of the reality genre.
Goal: Find the question that when answered would either make or break the claim that there has been a drop in reality TV's rankings is wrong
Analysis: This attack on the analysis makes a brazen shift from the current ranking of specific programs to the broader overall trend. It fails to consider that even though reality TV might have the #1 and #3 rankings, that those figures represent a significant drop for the genre as a whole. We need to find an option that can help us evaluate how safe a measure these #1 and #3 rankings are to the overall popularity status of reality TV in general.
Ⓐ Yes! This is the exact question we needed to ask to evaluate the use of the current status (#1 and #3 rankings) to measure the overall popularity of the reality genre. If those programs rankings are relevant, then the attack against the analysis is remarkably bolstered. If those rankings are NOT relevant to the overall popularity of the reality genre, then the attack against the analysis crumbles.
Ⓑ Investigating how popular reality TV used to be before 2007 wouldn't help us evaluate the attack on the analysis. What the attack is going after is the notion that reality TV has fallen since 2007. How popular it reality TV was before 2007 is useless to us.
Ⓒ The number of new reality TV programs is also useless to us. The genre could be more or less popular whether the number of programs increased or decreased. There's no obvious connection between the number of reality programs on air, and the overall popularity of the genre as a whole. This is a classic % to # shift. GMAC loves to test the ability to recognize that conceptual difference between a percentage and a specific number.
Ⓓ If some, none, or even a lot of unpopular reality programs are now more popular, that doesn't help us evaluate the attack on the analysis that overall reality TV popularity has fallen.
Ⓔ Profitability has absolutely nothing to do with the notion of how popular reality TV as a genre has been. This is a punishment option for those who automatically equate profitability with significance. Profitability does not factor in to our ability to use the #1 and #3 rankings as a way to measure the overall popularity of the reality TV genre.
Answer: A
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