LSAT 145 – Section 2 – Question 17

LSAT 145 - Section 2 - Question 17

December 2015

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT145 S2 Q17
+LR
Method of reasoning or descriptive +Method
Sampling +Smpl
Analogy +An
A
34%
159
B
60%
166
C
1%
153
D
4%
156
E
1%
155
151
159
167
 +Harder 145.859 +SubsectionMedium

Live Commentary

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The radio station claims that its new format is popular with listeners because more than three-quarters of the listeners who call in requests to the station say they are pleased with the format. This, however, is hardly conclusive. It would be like trying to determine whether a political candidate is popular with voters by interviewing only those people who have already decided to vote for the candidate.

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position
A radio station concludes that its new format is popular because more than three-quarters of listeners who call in requests to the station say they like the format. The author points out that the radio station’s conclusion might not be true. The author’s view is based on an analogy to political candidates. Just as interviewing only people who have decided to vote for a candidate wouldn’t necessarily give you an accurate view of the candidate’s popularity, relying only on the listeners who call in to the radio station might not give an accurate view of the popularity of the new format.

Describe Method of Reasoning
The author relies on an analogy to show that the radio station’s reasoning is flawed.

A
concluding that an inference is flawed on the grounds that it is based on a survey conducted by a biased party
The author does not say that the radio station’s conclusion is based on a survey conducted by a biased party. The problem is that the opinion of people who call in might not be representative of opinion generally. There is no survey or biased entity that conducted a survey.
B
referring to an inference that is clearly flawed in order to undermine an analogous inference
Refers to an inference that is clearly flawed (that we can determine candidate’s popularity by asking only those who would vote for the candidate) in order to undermine an analogous inference (that we can determine popularity of new format based on opinion of listeners who call in).
C
questioning the legitimacy of an inference by proposing a more reasonable inference that could be drawn from the evidence
The author does not propose a more reasonable inference that we can draw from the opinion of radio listeners who call in.
D
providing a direct counterexample to a conclusion in order to show that the conclusion is false
The author does not show that the radio station’s conclusion is false. Also, the author does not provide an example of anyone who dislikes the format.
E
claiming that an inference leads to a contradiction in order to show that the inference is unreasonable
The author does not point out that the radio station’s reasoning leads to a contradiction. The author does not point to any logically contradictory elements.

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LSAT PrepTest 145 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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