Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than doe

Question

Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than does working longer workweeks. In addition, greater perceived control over one's work life reduces stress levels. It can be concluded, therefore, that shorter workweeks cause managers to feel they have more control over their work life.

The argument made above uses which of the following questionable techniques?

(A) Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon

(B) Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together.

(C) Assuming what it sets out to prove

(D) Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion

(E) Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers

ID 16599

aspire · Accepted Answer

I will go with A.

My explanation:

A causes B ( Working shorter workweeks  causes  managers to feel less stress  )
C causes B ( greater perceived control over one's work life   
 reduces  stress levels )

The conclusion says that A causes C ( shorter workweeks cause managers to feel they have more control over their work life.  )

Choice A clearly supports the above reasoning.

amit2k9 · Answer

shorter workweeks - SW, Stress - S, More control - MC ;

Argument structure - 1. SW -> S less
 2. MC -> S less
 3. SW -> MC Conclusion.

From Conclusion we understand - 
 Shorter work weeks causes more control over once work.So, factors are Casually related. 
 Two independent factors MC and SW have been shown connected by single factor which is stress.

Among the options A matches perfectly.Hence the answer.
 
PS - For any argument in CR, the structural diagram is important.If you get it clear,mistakes will be lesser.

I believe this will help.

ShreyaKohli · Answer

Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than does working longer workweeks. In addition, greater perceived control over one's work life reduces stress levels. It can be concluded, therefore, that shorter workweeks cause managers to feel they have more control over their work life.

The argument made above uses which of the following questionable techniques?

(A) Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon

(B) Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together.

(C) Assuming what it sets out to prove

(D) Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion

(E) Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers

My explanation -

The argument says
(i) that working shorter work weeks leads to less stress
(ii) more control over work life leads to less stress
The author is trying to conclude here that two independent events which lead to the same effect are the cause and effect of each other.

(A) Correct as explained above
(B) The argument does not say that both the events when put together act more strongly. It is trying to form a cause - effect relation between the 2 events. Incorrect
(C) Incorrect, no assumption stated
(D) As explained in (B), it forms a cause-effect relationship in the conclusion
(E) The events are not preconceived notions of the managers. Not stated in the argument. Incorrect

Happy to know if anyone has any thoughts on my explanation

moonstarxys · Answer

Can someone please explain why E is incorrect?

(Why is gaining greater control' not a perceived need that the author has about the managers?)

Thank you!!!

Erick1802 · Answer

This is a flaw or method of reasoning question, Can you please remove the tag as  Evaluate  and rather tag it as  method of reasoning  or  flaw.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Erick1802  thanks for pointing out

Usernamevisible · Answer

STEP 1 — Predict before options
We already identified the flaw:
shorter workweeks → less stress
perceived control → less stress
therefore shorter workweeks → more perceived control
Bad move:
two things connected to same result are assumed connected to each other.
So before options we expect something like:
“associates two conditions because both are related to same effect.”
 
OPTION ANALYSIS
(A)
“Associating two conditions as cause and effect on the basis of their being causally associated with the same phenomenon”
Restate simply
The argument says:
both conditions relate to same outcome
therefore one causes the other
That is EXACTLY what happened.
Shorter workweeks and perceived control are both connected to:
lower stress
Argument concludes:
shorter workweeks cause perceived control
Perfect match.
CORRECT
 
(B)
“Taking for granted that two factors that have a certain effect individually produce that effect more strongly when both act together.”
What this would mean
Argument would need to say:
shorter workweeks reduce stress
perceived control reduces stress
therefore BOTH together reduce stress EVEN MORE
But argument NEVER discusses combined effect.
Wrong flaw
 
(C)
“Assuming what it sets out to prove”
This is circular reasoning.
Would look like:
shorter workweeks increase control because they increase control
But argument does not restate conclusion as evidence.
Wrong
 
(D)
“Using an irrelevant point in order to draw a conclusion”
Evidence IS relevant:
stress is central to reasoning.
Problem is not irrelevance.
Problem is invalid inference.
Wrong
 
(E)
“Basing a conclusion on preconceived views about the needs of managers”
No stereotypes or preconceived beliefs appear.
Wrong
 
FINAL ANSWER
(A)
Because the argument wrongly assumes:
if two things are causally connected to the same effect, then one causes the other.

Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than doe

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Working shorter workweeks causes managers to feel less stress than doe

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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