STAT Evaluating Written Arguments 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A city council argues: 'Crime rates dropped 15% after we installed more streetlights, so streetlights prevent crime.' What is the main flaw in this argument?
- The data source is unreliable
- Correlation is mistaken for causation (Correct answer)
- The sample size is too small
- The conclusion is too narrow
Correct answer: Correlation is mistaken for causation
The argument assumes that because two events occurred together, one caused the other, which is the correlation-causation fallacy.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes a 'hasty generalization'?
- Drawing a broad conclusion from insufficient evidence (Correct answer)
- Attacking the person making an argument rather than the argument itself
- Assuming what you are trying to prove
- Appealing to authority to support a claim
Correct answer: Drawing a broad conclusion from insufficient evidence
A hasty generalization occurs when a sweeping conclusion is drawn from too few or unrepresentative examples.
Question 3: An essay concludes: 'Students who study more than four hours daily perform better academically. Therefore, schools should mandate four hours of daily homework.' Which assumption is the argument relying on?
- All students study equally effectively
- Mandating homework will produce the same results as voluntary study (Correct answer)
- Academic performance is the only measure of student success
- Four hours is the maximum students can study
Correct answer: Mandating homework will produce the same results as voluntary study
The argument assumes mandatory homework will replicate the outcomes of self-motivated study, which may not hold true.
Question 4: Passage: 'Every war in history has ended. Therefore, the current conflict will also end.' What type of reasoning is this?
- Deductive reasoning from a universal law
- Inductive reasoning from past patterns (Correct answer)
- Analogical reasoning from a single case
- Abductive reasoning from the best explanation
Correct answer: Inductive reasoning from past patterns
The argument uses inductive reasoning by generalising from historical patterns to predict a future event.
Question 5: Which of the following is the strongest counter-argument to the claim: 'Banning junk food advertising will reduce childhood obesity'?
- Childhood obesity is not a serious health concern
- Children do not watch television
- Dietary habits are primarily shaped by family and socioeconomic factors, not advertising alone (Correct answer)
- Junk food companies pay significant taxes
Correct answer: Dietary habits are primarily shaped by family and socioeconomic factors, not advertising alone
This counter-argument challenges the causal link by identifying other dominant factors that influence childhood obesity.
Question 6: A senator states: 'My opponent has accepted donations from oil companies, so his environmental policy cannot be trusted.' This is an example of:
- A straw man fallacy
- An ad hominem fallacy (Correct answer)
- A false dilemma
- An appeal to nature
Correct answer: An ad hominem fallacy
The senator attacks the opponent's funding source rather than the substance of the environmental policy itself.
Question 7: A study reports that people who eat breakfast earn higher salaries on average. A journalist concludes that skipping breakfast causes lower earnings. Which evidence would MOST weaken this conclusion?
- High earners report eating eggs more than cereal
- Wealthier individuals have more resources to afford breakfast (Correct answer)
- The study surveyed 10,000 adults across multiple countries
- Some breakfast eaters also have low incomes
Correct answer: Wealthier individuals have more resources to afford breakfast
If wealth enables breakfast rather than breakfast enabling wealth, the causal direction is reversed, undermining the conclusion.
STAT Evaluating Written Arguments 2
A city council argues: 'Crime rates dropped 15% after we installed more streetlights, so streetlights prevent crime.' What is the main flaw in this argument?