In a certain factory, the union membership was higher in 2010 than in

Question

In a certain factory, the union membership was higher in 2010 than in 2008. For the period from 2007 to 2011, the percentage of factory workers that were members of the union remained constant.

The statements above, if true, most strongly support which conclusion?

(A) The union membership in 2009 was higher than it was in 2008

(B) The factory had more employees in 2010 than in 2008

(C) This union collected larger total revenue in dues in 2010 than it did in 2008

(D) Throughout this entire manufacturing sector, factory worker unions saw growth from 2008 to 2010

(E) In 2010, there were fewer non-union employees in this factory than there were in 2008

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

(A) The union membership in 2009 was higher than it was in 2008. (That doesn't depict why union membership was higher in 2010) (Incorrect)

(B) The factory had more employees in 2010 than in 2008 (if the factory had more employees in 2010 and the union members percentage stays the same, then this justifies why union members were more in 2010) (Keep this)

(C) This union collected larger total revenue in dues in 2010 than it did in 2008 (Revenue is not the concern, union members number is) (Incorrect)

(D) Throughout this entire manufacturing sector, factory worker unions saw growth from 2008 to 2010 (what if other sectors faced decline?) (Incorrect)

(E) In 2010, there were fewer non-union employees in this factory than there were in 2008 (what about other factories? We need an overall percentage increase) (incorrect)

Answer is B

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Boho · Answer

Percentage of factory workers who were members of the union remained same, indicating total count must been more in 2010 than in 2007.

(A) The union membership in 2009 was higher than it was in 2008
No information about 2009

(B) The factory had more employees in 2010 than in 2008
Yes.

(C) This union collected larger total revenue in dues in 2010 than it did in 2008
No information about dues

(D) Throughout this entire manufacturing sector, factory worker unions saw growth from 2008 to 2010
No information about 2009.

(E) In 2010, there were fewer non-union employees in this factory than there were in 2008
Is is opposite

(B) is the answer

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The credited answer is (B). If number of union employees went up, but the percent of union employees stayed the same, this means the total number of employees had to go up in this period.

We don't know whether the union membership rose continuously, a rise from 2008 to 2009, then another rise from 2009 to 2010; or whether it went down a bit in 2009 and then shot up in 2010. Either could be true, we have no grounds for concluding that 2009 was higher than 2008. Choice (A) is incorrect.

We have no idea what the union dues structure was, and how it might have changed from 2008 to 2010. If dues were exactly the same, then more members would produce more revenue in dues. We don't know, though, whether dues stayed the same or changed. Choice (C) is incorrect.

Choice (D) is much much too broad. We have information about one factory. There is no way we can deduce something about every factory in the sector, factories all over the country. Choice (D) is incorrect.

If the percentage of union employees stayed the same, then the percent of non-union employees also would have had to have stayed the same. If there were more union members, then that means there were more employees overall, which means there would also have to be more non-union members. Choice (E) is incorrect.

bb · Answer

This is a bit problematic wording that should be ideally clarified by the question author. What does membership refer to? Percent or Absolute number? The way it is phrased it sounds like it should be percent, as we are talking about membership and not members, but the question actually refers to the absolute number. This is not very clean. I also don't seem to be able to prove why E is wrong... but I have not spend the time to write it out on paper

In a certain factory, the union membership was higher in 2010 than in

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In a certain factory, the union membership was higher in 2010 than in

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