In a poll of a representative sample of a province’s residents, the pr

Question

In a poll of a representative sample of a province’s residents, the provincial capital was the city most often selected as the best place to live in that province. Since the capital is also the largest of that province’s many cities, the poll shows that most residents of that province generally prefer life in large cities to life in small cities.

The argument is most vulnerable to the criticism that it

(A) overlooks the possibility that what is true of the residents of the province may not be true of other people

(B) does not indicate whether most residents of other provinces also prefer life in large cities to life in small cities

(C) takes for granted that when people are polled for their preferences among cities, they tend to vote for the city that they think is the best place to live

(D) overlooks the possibility that the people who preferred small cities over the provincial capital did so not because of their general feelings about the sizes of cities, but because of their general feelings about capital cities

(E) overlooks the possibility that most people may have voted for small cities even though a large city received more votes than any other single city

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

EXPLANATION FROM Fox LSAT

The difficulty here is that there could be a lot of different reasons for saying that the argument is flawed. The argument doesn’t give us enough information to justify its conclusion.

The “representative” sample polled people in a certain province, asking them where the best place to live is  in that province . They weren’t asked where they’d like to live in the whole world, just in their own province. All we know about the responses is that the “most commonly selected” place is the capital city of the province, which also happens to be the biggest city in the province. All of this is fact.

The argument goes off the rails, as always, when it reaches the conclusion: “Most residents of the province generally prefer life in large cities to life in small cities.” That’s not really justified by the facts. Here’s why:

1) It’s possible that all the small cities in  that province  are garbage. The fact that people picked the big city in their province doesn’t mean that they like big cities  generally . Maybe the small cities in their province suck.

2) Similarly, it’s possible that the big city in their province is super-awesome. Maybe it’s Vancouver, which is totally amazing. Maybe these people only actually like this  one  big city, and would hate other big cities. If this were true, then people would not  generally  prefer big cities, just this one in particular.

3) There’s a subtle disconnect between the poll question, “Where is the best place to live?” and the conclusion, “Most residents prefer to live in big cities.” People could objectively say, “Yes, big cities are the best place to live,” to a pollster, but actually prefer to live in a small city. “Big cities are so exciting! Oh, but me myself? No, I could never live there, I’m not a big city type of person.” This is really a quibble though. I’m not sure how reasonable this objection is. Common sense might say, “That’s bullshit. People pretty much answer the question with where  they  would like to live.”

4) We don’t even know if the capital city got a majority of the votes. Yes, it was the “most commonly selected.” But that doesn’t mean that it got 51 percent of the vote. It’s possible that the capital city was the leading single answer, with 12 percent of total residents. It’s possible that the remaining 88 percent of the populace voted for a variety of **** little small towns, with no town reaching over 11 percent of the vote. If this were the case, then 12 percent would have expressed a preference for living in a big city, while 88 percent would have expressed exactly the opposite. If that’s the case, then the conclusion clearly fails.

Any of the above could be the correct answer, which makes for a tough question. We have to pick the answer choice that 1) describes something that the argument actually did, and 2) provides a good reason for saying, “Your conclusion is therefore bullshit.”

A) Other people are simply not relevant. The argument’s premises and conclusion were solely about residents of  this  province.

B) Same explanation as A.

C) No, this answer misstates the facts. People weren't asked about "their preferences among cities." They were specifically asked to name the best place to live.

D) Even if this is true, the argument is unchanged. The capital city won the poll. Why do we care why the small city folks prefer small cities?

E) Yep. This is our fourth objection above. If the 12 percent vs. 88 percent scenario is true, then the conclusion is totally bogus. This is the best answer to a very tough question.

Our answer is E.

winterschool · Answer

In a poll of a representative sample of a province’s residents, the provincial capital was the city most often selected as the best place to live in that province. Since the capital is also the largest of that province’s many cities, the poll shows that most residents of that province generally prefer life in large cities to life in small cities.

The argument is most vulnerable to the criticism that it

(A) overlooks the possibility that what is true of the residents of the province may not be true of other people  Incorrect

compare with other people is not true

(B) does not indicate whether most residents of other provinces also prefer life in large cities to life in small cities  Incorrect

other provinces are irrelevant to argument

(C) takes for granted that when people are polled for their preferences among cities, they tend to vote for the city that they think is the best place to live  Incorrect

not true

(D) overlooks the possibility that the people who preferred small cities over the provincial capital did so not because of their general feelings about the sizes of cities, but because of their general feelings about capital cities  Incorrect

not true

(E)  overlooks the possibility that most people may have voted for small cities even though a large city received more votes than any other single city   Correct

possible choice; most people could vote for small cities but as a large city capital receive it won as best place

100mitra · Answer

Correct Option E

(A)  Wrong : It is not relevant what people outside of the province think.

(B)  Wrong  : It is not relevant what people outside of the province think.

(C)  Wrong : This argument says that the poll is representative. It would be better to find a flaw related to drawing the conclusion from the evidence.

(D)  Wrong : this answer choice had been about people who preferred the province’s capital to small city

(E)  Correct : describes a weakness with this argument.

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unraveled · Answer

In a poll of a representative sample of a province’s residents, the provincial capital was the city most often selected as the best place to live in that province. Since the capital is also the largest of that province’s many cities, the poll shows that most residents of that province generally prefer life in large cities to life in small cities.

The argument is most vulnerable to the criticism that it

(A) overlooks the possibility that what is true of the residents of the province  may not be true of other people  - WRONG. Yes, may be true but it does not matter what others think.

(B) does not indicate whether most residents of  other provinces   also prefer life in large cities to life in small cities  - WRONG. Out of scope.

(C) takes for granted that when people are polled for their preferences among cities, they tend to vote for the city that they think is the best place to live - WRONG. Looks good. But it does not differentiates which one was big city and which was not.

(D) overlooks the possibility that the people  who preferred small cities over the provincial capital did so  not because of their general feelings about the sizes of cities, but because of their general feelings about capital cities - WRONG. Those who preferred cities is what we are concerned of not small cities.

(E) overlooks the possibility that most people may have voted for small cities even though a large city received more votes than any other single city - CORRECT. 10% one big city got but rest 90% voted for small cities. This weakens the conclusion.

Answer E.

VerbalBot · Answer

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In a poll of a representative sample of a province’s residents, the pr

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