LSAT 114 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q3

LR Question 3 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In the absence of the anthropologist’s reply…

QUESTION TYPE: Principle – Strengthen

CONCLUSION: The chemist claimed the anthropologist had committed fraud.

REASONING: The anthropologist did not report her negative test results. The anthropologist claimed that the test had been performed incorrectly.

ANALYSIS: The stimulus doesn’t tell us what counts as fraud. The correct answer (E) gives a very strict definition: you pretty much have to report everything that could even be incorrectly seen as a disconfirmation of your idea.

___________

1. The anthropologist did not report anything. That’s the problem. 
2. This tells us that someone can commit fraud despite doing some honest things. The anthropologist only did something dishonest. And this answer choice doesn’t actually help us define fraud. 
3. This supports the anthropologist.
4. The anthropologist didn’t report any results.
5. CORRECT. The experiment certainly could be interpreted as disproving the anthropologist; even if the experiment was actually flawed and couldn’t disprove anything.