In Tomensville, spending long hours sitting in a sedentary position ha...
In Tomensville, spending long hours sitting in a sedentary position has been a major cause of neck problems for young adults diagnosed with this health issue. The increased neck problems reported during the last two years must be the result of watching TV for long hours, because two years ago the government of Tomensville had mandated that the chairs provided for workers using computers be ergonomically designed.
Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?
Argument Analysis
Pre-Thinking
Conclusion Clarification
This is a causal argument.
The conclusion states that watching TV for long hours must be the reason for the increased neck problems reported during the last two years.
Pre-Thinking Approach
Let’s see how we can make the conclusion more believable. To do so, we will look at the logical structure, focusing on linkage1. Note that linkage 1 links two facts in a causal relationship, leading to the conclusion. Thus the way to strengthen the conclusion will be to support this linkage or causal relationship.
Linkage#1 –
- Strengthener 1 – Watching TV for long hours requires a person to sit in a sedentary position.
Strengthener 2– It was found that the daily activities of most of the young people in Tomennsville who had day jobs that required extensive computer-work and who did not report neck included limited TV viewing.
In the above strengthener, we show that when the cause was absent, the result was absent as well, thereby increasing belief in the causal relation.
With this pre-thinking in mind, let’s evaluate the answer choices.
Answer Choices
A
Some companies in Tomensville still do not provide ergonomic chairs for their employees.
Incorrect - Opposite
If anything, this choice weakens the conclusion as it opens up the possibility that even though the government mandated the use of ergonomically designed chairs, the mandate hasn’t been carried out fully.
B
Tomensville has also been strongly encouraging TV watchers to exercise regularly.
Incorrect - Irrelevant
Encouraging TV watchers to exercise regularly doesn’t help us determine whether watching TV for long hours caused the increased neck problems reported during the last two years in Tomensville.
C
Last year Tomensville saw a hike in the number of people reporting neck problems during the season when most popular TV programs were off the air.
Incorrect - Opposite
This option opens up the possibility that the neck problems were reported at a time when people could have been spending less than their usual time on watching TV.
D
Some people who do not watch TV at all also suffer from neck problems.
Incorrect - Opposite
If anything, this option weakens the argument by stating that watching TV is not the cause of neck problems in at least some cases as some people suffer from neck problem without watching TV.
A
During the holiday season in Tomensville, when many TV channels run mostly those programs that have popular viewer demand, there is a jump in the number of neck issues reported.
Correct
This choice indicates the likelihood of increased TV viewing as people are at home during the mentioned season. So the chances of the mentioned cause are high and the observed effect is also high.