LSAT 128 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q5

LR Question 5 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Some people dislike their jobs but still go to work …

QUESTION TYPE: Complete the Argument

CONCLUSION: This makes it difficult to ___ (we are asked to find the conclusion).

REASONING: Some people who dislike their jobs still go to work regularly for ethical reasons, while others who enjoy their job sometimes miss work for health reasons.

ANALYSIS: Typically, you might assume that those who are less happy with their job show up less often, while those who are happy have a better attendance record. However, the stimulus tells us that some employees who dislike their jobs still show up, while others who enjoy their jobs sometimes miss work. Both of these are for other reasons than job satisfaction.

So, since attendance doesn’t directly correspond to job satisfaction in a predictable way, we can conclude that “This makes it difficult to [use attendance records to measure job satisfaction]”.

___________

1. We know nothing about fear of losing jobs. The stimulus is strictly about the relationship between (or lack thereof) job attendance and satisfaction.
2. The argument is that it’s hard to interpret what absences mean, not that it’s difficult to record them.
3. CORRECT. Both satisfied and dissatisfied employees can have high or low attendance, meaning absenteeism records don’t reliably indicate job satisfaction. This logically completes the argument.
4. The stimulus says they genuinely believe they are sick, so it doesn’t question whether they’re lying – it discusses why different employees may miss or attend work.
5. I wouldn’t say this doesn’t fit at all, but it does miss the mark because we’re not necessarily interested in predicting future behavior. The point is that we can’t use absenteeism as a measure for job satisfaction.