Scientist: The appropriate way to discover how best to market manufactured products is to apply the methods of anthropology. Of course not all theorists agree. But clearly, the reason that marketing techniques and practices have developed is to help satisfy consumer demand most efficiently. How such marketing techniques and practices have developed can be scientifically studied by anthropologists.The scientist has concluded the following:
The appropriate way to discover how best to market manufactured products is to apply the methods of anthropology.The support for the conclusion is the following:
the reason that marketing techniques and practices have developed is to help satisfy consumer demand most efficiently.and
How such marketing techniques and practices have developed can be scientifically studied by anthropologists.We see that the scientist's reasoning is basically that, since marketing techniques developed to satisfy consumer demand efficiently and anthropologists can study how they developed, the way to discover how to market products is to study marketing the way an anthropologist would.
Of course, that argument is a little incoherent since studying the development of something is not quite the same thing as learning how best to do it.
To which of the following criticisms is the scientist’s argument most vulnerable?This is a Flaw question, and the correct answer will describe something about the argument that's flawed.
(A) The argument overlooks the possibility that one type of scientific inquiry may not be successful for studying every type of process.The argument doesn't involve the assumption that one type of scientific inquiry would be successful for studying
"every type of process."
Rather, it uses some premises to show that anthropological methods would work for studying marketing.
So, the argument does not what this choice describes.
Eliminate.
(B) the argument fails to support the implicit claim that merely tracing the development of marketing techniques and practices make clear which ones are best.As we saw in analyzing the passage, the argument is a little off because it basically jumps from the idea that anthropologists can study the development of marketing to the conclusion that the way to discover how best to market is to study it as an anthropologist would.
So, the issue with the argument is that
it doesn't ever say how studying the development of marketing leads to discovering the best way to market. After all, the development of something and how best to do it are different topics.
This choice describes that exact issue since "fails to support the implicit claim that merely tracing the development of marketing techniques and practices make clear which ones are best" is another way of saying "does not show how studying the development of marketing leads to knowing how best to market."
Keep.
(C) The argument assumes, without providing justification, that the conduct of scientific inquiry is not itself affected by marketing techniques and practicesThe argument doesn't do this.
After all, even if the conduct of scientific inquiry is somehow affected by marketing techniques and practices, it could still be the case that the best way to discover how best to market is to use the mehtods of anthropology.
Eliminate.
(D) The argument overlooks the possibility that marketing techniques and practices may be applicable even in domains that do not affect consumer demand.We could say that the argument does what this choice says since it does nothing to address the possibility that marketing techniques and practices may be applicable even in domains that do not affect consumer demand.
At the same time, that the argument does nothing to address that possiblity is not a flaw because the point of the argument is about how best to use marketing in the context of consumer demand, and even if marketing techniques and practices are applicable in domains that do not affect consumer demand, that fact has no effect on the argument.
Eliminate.
(E) The argument's premise that anthropologists can scientifically study how marketing techniques developed assumes that most anthropologists are skilled in applying marketing techniques.This is not a flaw because the argument doesn't do it.
After all, the argument is about a "way to discover how best to market manufactured products."
Discovering something means that you don't already know about it. So, the argument works even if anthropologists who would study marketing are not skilled in marketing since they would presumably learn about marketing through the study and discovery process.
Eliminate.
Correct answer: B