LSAT 108 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q6

LR Question 6 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: News item: The result of a recent public survey …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: A majority does not favor more investment in IT.

REASONING: The survey originally said most people do favor more investment. But one pollster admitted to falsifying data.

ANALYSIS: The reasoning is: Some data was falsified

And the conclusion is: The survey’s conclusion is false

But bad data doesn’t automatically mean the opposite conclusion is true.

Maybe the falsified data didn’t affect the overall result. Maybe if we removed the fake data, the survey would still show that most people support more investment.

Or even if the survey was completely fake, they still faked the correct result.

___________

1. CORRECT. The argument ignores the possibility that the survey’s conclusion would still be confirmed once the falsified data were removed.
2. Whether the public accepts the survey doesn’t matter. The issue is whether the conclusion is actually true.
3. Other surveys aren’t relevant to whether this survey’s conclusion is false.
4. Respondents lying could create another problem with the survey, but it doesn’t address the specific flaw: the argument treats falsified data as proof that the survey’s conclusion is false.
5. People’s opinions changing over time doesn’t matter. The argument is about whether this survey’s conclusion was false because of falsified data.