Scientist: A number of errors can plague a data-collection process. Since examining the collected data enables researchers to detect many of these errors, it is standard practice for researchers to correct collected data. However, in my field, there is a striking tendency for such corrections to favor Jones’s theory; that is, the majority of corrections result in the corrected data’s being closer than the uncorrected data to what Jones’s theory predicts.
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do data corrections in the scientist’s field tend to favor Jones’s theory?
Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis that explains why these data corrections gravitate towards what Jones’s theory predicts. The explanation must either signal that Jones’s theory is correct and errors naturally stray from the theory, or that those doing the data-corrections are themselves biased towards Jones’s theory.
A
Researchers normally give data that is in line with a theory the same weight as data that conflicts with that theory when they are determining whether to accept that theory.
If anything, it seems possible that researchers are giving data less weight when it strays from Jones’s theory. We also have no idea whether or not the theory has been accepted yet.
B
Researchers in the scientist’s field give data that conflicts with Jones’s theory greater scrutiny than they give data that is in line with Jones’s theory.
Researchers go looking for errors in data that conflicts with Jones’s theory. Data that falls in line with Jones’s theory, on the other hand, goes unremarked and uncorrected. This explains why data is corrected to align with Jones’s theory.
C
Researchers in the scientist’s field are more likely to pursue lines of research that they expect will favor theories they accept than to pursue other lines of research.
It doesn’t matter what researchers expect ahead of time. We need to know why their data-corrections align with Jones’s theory.
D
Even if researchers fail to detect errors in a data-collection process when they examine the data that they collected, that does not guarantee that no such errors exist.
This may be true, but why do researchers mainly detect errors that are then corrected to bring data in line with Jones’s theory? This doesn’t tell us enough about the data-correction process.
E
Researchers in the scientist’s field have formulated several other theories that attempt to explain the same range of phenomena that Jones’s theory attempts to explain.
Why do data-corrections favor Jones’s theory rather than these other theories? If anything, this only complicates things since we now know there are other theories to choose from.
A
A knowledge of the latest technologies is no more valuable than a knowledge of the fundamental academic disciplines.
B
Schools cannot emphasize the teaching of computer skills without neglecting other skills.
C
A complete rethinking of traditional academic subjects is required in order to keep pace with global developments.
D
Attempting to keep pace with recent educational developments can result in neglecting basic skills in favor of other skills.
E
Giving students a knowledge of new technologies should be the primary goal of education.
A
It is now easier to measure a piece of land in terms of acres than in terms of plowing time.
B
For modern purposes, newer methods provide a more accurate measure of land than plowing time does.
C
Some plots of land that would have been considered unequal by plowing-time measurements are of equal physical dimensions.
D
Modern measures of land were adopted when people realized that plowing time was an inadequate measure for some land uses.
E
The advent of diversified land uses made new measures of land necessary.
Researchers studying athletes found that those who played mainly for the love of their sport actually had sharper vision during athletic competitions than those whose main goal was winning a trophy or championship. The vision of the first group of athletes was sharper because the concentration necessary for acute vision during an activity is typically possessed to a greater degree by those whose attention is focused on the activity itself.
Summary
Researchers found that athletes who played mainly for the love of their sport had sharper vision during competitions compared to athletes whose main goal was winning a trophy or championship. The first group had sharper vision because those whose attention is focused on an activity itself usually have more of the concentration necessary for acute vision.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport focus more on the activity itself than athletes whose main goal is winning a trophy or championship.
A
Winning a trophy or championship is not important to athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport.
This answer is unsupported. To say that winning a trophy or championship is not important at all is too extreme. We know that these athletes play mainly for the love of their sport, but this does not have to be the only reason they play.
B
If an athlete’s main goal during an athletic competition is winning a trophy or championship, that athlete will lack the concentration necessary for adequate vision during that competition.
This answer is unsupported. To say that these athletes will not have the concentration necessary is too extreme. We only know from the stimulus that these athletes possess this concentration to a lesser degree, not that they don’t possess it at all.
C
Athletes who play mainly for the love of their sport concentrate more on the sport itself during athletic competitions than do athletes whose main goal is winning a trophy or championship.
This answer is strongly supported. We know from the stimulus that the athletes who play for the love of their sport had sharper vision, and we know that this sharper vision comes from concentrating on the sport itself.
D
It is impossible for an athlete to concentrate on more than one thing at a time during an athletic competition.
This answer is unsupported. To say that it is impossible is too extreme. We know from the stimulus that athletes either mainly play for the love of their sport or wining a trophy. We can’t assume that having a main objective means that there are no other objectives.
E
During athletic competitions, an athlete whose attention is focused on the sport itself will perform better than any athlete whose attention is focused elsewhere.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know anything about an athlete’s performance from the stimulus.
A
The argument concludes that something can cause a particular outcome merely because it is necessary for that outcome.
B
The argument contains premises that contradict one another.
C
The argument presumes that something should be done merely because historically it has been done.
D
The argument infers a causal relation between two events merely from the fact that one event occurred before the other.
E
The argument relies on a premise that presupposes what the argument attempts to show in the conclusion.
Varela: You forget that curiosity is the root of scientific inquiry. Many great scientific discoveries were motivated by curiosity alone.
Varela points out that curiosity is the root of scientific inquiry, and that many great scientific discovered were motivated by only curiosity. (The implicit conclusion is that investigations into the healthy history of historical figures, even if motivated by mere curiosity, can still be a legitimate scientific inquiry.)