Flawed ReasoningDiff: Easy
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Researchers asked a bunch of kids in one city if they wanted to graduate, and most said yes. Based on this, the author claims that if kids across the whole country are dropping out, it's definitely not because they don't want to be there.
Conclusion: A high national dropout rate cannot be blamed on a lack of desire to finish school among students.
Reasoning: In a survey of 1,000 students from three high schools in one city, nearly 90 percent stated they plan to graduate.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a sampling bias; it assumes that students in three schools in one city represent the attitudes of students nationwide. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between 'planning' to finish and 'wanting' to finish, as well as a failure to consider that the students surveyed might not include those most at risk of dropping out. You should look for an answer that highlights how this specific group of 1,000 students might not be representative of the national population of potential dropouts. It's a classic case of over-generalizing from a limited and potentially skewed data set.
Conclusion: A high national dropout rate cannot be blamed on a lack of desire to finish school among students.
Reasoning: In a survey of 1,000 students from three high schools in one city, nearly 90 percent stated they plan to graduate.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a sampling bias; it assumes that students in three schools in one city represent the attitudes of students nationwide. Furthermore, there is a disconnect between 'planning' to finish and 'wanting' to finish, as well as a failure to consider that the students surveyed might not include those most at risk of dropping out. You should look for an answer that highlights how this specific group of 1,000 students might not be representative of the national population of potential dropouts. It's a classic case of over-generalizing from a limited and potentially skewed data set.
Passage Stimulus
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Unlock Full Passage4.The reasoning of the argument above is questionable because the argument
Correct Answer
E
E identifies the key flaw: it generalizes from a small, local sample (three schools in one city) to nationwide conclusions about students and the causes of the national dropout rate.
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