Interpretation Flashcards
7 cards from real Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Interpretation flashcards as text
A report states that countries with higher chocolate consumption per capita have more Nobel Prize winners per capita. What is the most reasonable interpretation?
Answer: There is a statistical correlation between chocolate consumption and Nobel Prizes in this data.
This is a classic spurious correlation; the data shows a statistical relationship, not a causal one.
Passage: 'A hospital with a new electronic records system reported a 15% reduction in medication errors over one year.' Which interpretation is best supported?
Answer: The hospital's medication error rate fell by 15% in the year after implementing the system.
The data confirms the reduction happened in that time period at that hospital, without establishing sole causation or universal applicability.
Survey results show that 80% of employees at Company X say they feel 'engaged' at work, compared to a national average of 65%. What can be reasonably interpreted?
Answer: Company X employees reported higher engagement than the national average.
The data supports a comparison of self-reported engagement rates and nothing beyond that.
A study found that children who read for pleasure for at least 20 minutes a day had vocabularies twice the size of those who did not. Which is the most cautious interpretation?
Answer: Children who read more had larger vocabularies in this study.
The study shows an association within its sample; other vocabulary-building factors and broader applications are not addressed.
Crime statistics show that a city's violent crime rate dropped by 20% in the year after increasing the number of streetlights. What is an unwarranted interpretation?
Answer: Streetlights are the proven cause of the 20% drop in violent crime.
Claiming streetlights are the 'proven cause' oversteps the evidence, which only shows a temporal correlation.
A university reports that graduates of its new accelerated program earn starting salaries 10% higher than traditional graduates. Which interpretation is justified?
Answer: In this university's data, accelerated program graduates had higher starting salaries.
The justified interpretation stays within the reported data without attributing causes or generalizing beyond the institution.
A passage states: 'Athletes who train at high altitude for 3 weeks show a 5% improvement in endurance performance on average.' Which conclusion is best supported?
Answer: On average, athletes in this study improved endurance by 5% after high-altitude training.
The passage specifies an average finding for athletes who trained under these conditions, which is all the data supports.