Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyEvaluating Reasoning Flaws

A city transit agency reported that bus routes equipped with free Wi-Fi received significantly higher satisfaction ratings from commuters than routes without Wi-Fi. The agency concluded that installing Wi-Fi on all remaining bus routes will directly increase satisfaction ratings across the entire transit system. Which of the following identify flaws in the reasoning above? Select all that apply.

  1. It treats a correlation between Wi-Fi availability and high satisfaction ratings as evidence of a direct causal relationship.Answer
  2. It assumes without justification that commuters on routes currently lacking Wi-Fi will respond to the amenity in the same manner as commuters on existing Wi-Fi routes.Answer
  3. C
    It provides additional empirical evidence reinforcing the claim that passengers prioritize digital connectivity during transit.
  4. D
    It fails to outline the precise technical specifications and installation costs required to upgrade the bus fleet.
  5. E
    It assumes that riders on non-Wi-Fi routes currently express complete dissatisfaction with all aspects of public transit service.

Answer

The argument is flawed because it mistakes a correlation between Wi-Fi availability and satisfaction for direct causation, and it improperly projects survey results from one set of routes onto all remaining routes without considering differing conditions.
The argument suffers from two primary reasoning flaws: first, it assumes that Wi-Fi availability is the direct cause of higher passenger satisfaction, ignoring possible alternative causes such as newer vehicles or better route reliability; second, it assumes that commuters on remaining routes will react identically to Wi-Fi installation, ignoring potential variations in passenger needs and trip durations.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the premise and the conclusion of the argument.
Premise: Routes with Wi-Fi reported higher passenger satisfaction. Conclusion: Adding Wi-Fi to remaining routes will raise overall system satisfaction.
Isolating argument components reveals the missing links needed for the conclusion to hold true.
2
Analyze logical gaps between the observed evidence and the proposed outcome.
The argument fails to rule out alternative explanations for higher satisfaction on Wi-Fi routes and assumes all remaining routes share identical passenger preferences.
Recognizing these unstated assumptions identifies the logical weaknesses in the passage.
3
Select options that accurately articulate these vulnerabilities.
The choices noting the confusion of correlation with causation and the ungrounded extrapolation across different routes are correct.
Both selected statements expose actual flaws in the transit agency's reasoning.

Key Concept

Evaluating Reasoning Flaws (Correlation vs. Causation & Unwarranted Extrapolation)
Rate this question

Topics

Evaluating Reasoning Flaws

More questions from this topic