ParadoxDiff: Easy

Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: It turns out that workplaces watched by government safety inspectors actually have more serious injuries than the ones that aren't being watched.

Reasoning: A study indicates that industries monitored by government safety inspectors actually experience a higher rate of serious injuries than those that are not monitored.

Analysis: This is a classic paradox where the expected outcome—that safety monitoring would decrease injuries—is contradicted by the data. To resolve this, we need to look for a factor that explains why inspectors are present in the first place or why their presence correlates with danger. For instance, if inspectors are specifically assigned to industries that are inherently more dangerous, the higher injury rate is a result of the job's nature, not a failure of the inspection itself.

Passage Stimulus

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3.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the surprising finding described above?

Correct Answer
C
If government inspectors monitor only industries with inherently high injury risk, then it’s expected that monitored industries show higher injury rates than unmonitored ones. This selection effect neatly explains the surprising finding without claiming that monitoring increases injuries.
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