Letter to the editor: I have never seen such flawed reasoning and distorted evidence as that which you tried to pass off as a balanced study in the article “Speed Limits, Fatalities, and Public Policy.” The article states that areas with lower speed limits had lower vehicle-related fatality rates than other areas. However, that will not be true for long, since vehicle-related fatality rates are rising in the areas with lower speed limits. So the evidence actually supports the view that speed limits should be increased.
The reasoning in the letter writer’s argument is flawed because the argument
Journalist: Researchers surveyed 1,000 people who had experienced personal catastrophes.
They found that those who formulated new personal goals after such disasters achieved
personal readjustment more effectively and more quickly than those who had not done so.
Assuming that the study was done correctly, it follows that to bring about readjustment in
such people most quickly and most effectively, counselors should mainly focus on
encouraging their clients to formulate new personal goals.
Which of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the journalist's reasoning?
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Industries waste large amounts of valuable water. Government subsidies allow industries to pay little or nothing for water. Therefore, if industries are required by the government to pay full price for the water they use, inefficient use of water by industry would soon cease altogether.
A flaw in the argument’s reasoning is that the argument
The recent boom in new home construction has finally begun to taper off. Developers are not buying land, contractors are finding themselves going without work for longer periods, and banks are issuing fewer mortgages. People must not be as interested in buying new homes as they were even six months ago
Which of the following indicates a flaw in the reasoning above?
Activist: Food producers irradiate food in order to prolong its shelf life. Five animal studies were recently conducted to investigate whether this process alters food in a way that could be dangerous to people who eat it. The studies concluded that irradiated food is safe for human to eat. However, because these studies were subsequently found by a panel of independent scientists to be seriously flawed in their methodology, it follows that irradiated food is not safe for human consumption.
The reasoning in the activist's argument is flawed because that argument
A certain airport security scanner designed to detect explosives in luggage will alert the scanner’s operator whenever the piece of luggage passing under the scanner contains an explosive. The scanner will erroneously alert the operator for only one percent of the pieces of luggage that contain no explosives. Thus in ninety‑nine out of a hundred alerts explosives will actually be present.
The reasoning in the argument is flawed because the argument
In a survey of consumers in an Eastern European nation, respondents were asked two questions about each of 400 famous Western brands: whether or not they recognized the brand name and whether or not they thought the products bearing that name were of high quality. The results of the survey were a rating and corresponding rank order for each brand based on recognition, and a second rating-plus-ranking based on approval. The brands ranked in the top 27 for recognition were those actually available in that nation. The approval rankings of these 27 brands often differed sharply from their recognition rankings. By contrast, most of the other brands had ratings, and thus rankings, that were essentially the same for recognition as for approval.
Which one of the following, if each is a principle about consumer surveys, is violated by the survey described?
Recent research shows that training programs that include emphases on flexibility, highlighting activities such as yoga and pilates, are significantly more effective at preventing injury in athletes than are training programs that solely focus on strength and speed. The Bournemouth Football Club suffered fewer injuries than the Haleford Football Club this past season, so it can be concluded that Bournemouth's training program featured more flexibility activities than did the program at Haleford.
The argument is most vulnerable to criticism because it:
Deirdre: Many philosophers have argued that the goal of every individual is to achieve happiness—that is, the satisfaction derived from fully living up to one’s potential. They have also claimed that happiness is elusive and can be achieved only after years of sustained effort. But these philosophers have been unduly pessimistic, since they have clearly exaggerated the difficulty of being happy. Simply walking along the seashore on a sunny afternoon causes many people to experience feelings of happiness.
Which one of the following most accurately describes a reasoning flaw in Deirdre’s argument?
Raphaela: Forcing people to help others is morally wrong. Therefore, no government has the right to redistribute resources via taxation. Anyone who wants can help others voluntarily.
Edward: Governments do have that right, insofar as they give people the freedom to leave and hence not to live under their authority.
Raphaela and Edward disagree about the truth of which one of the following?