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Question

Difficulty: MediumSampling and Survey Flaws

University administrator: To determine how our alumni feel about the recent shift toward online-only summer courses, we analyzed responses from our annual donor satisfaction survey, which was mailed exclusively to alumni who contributed $500 or more to the university last year. Over 80 percent of respondents indicated they strongly support the shift. Therefore, it is clear that the overwhelming majority of our alumni favor the transition to online-only summer courses.

Which one of the following most accurately describes a flaw in the university administrator's reasoning?

  1. A
    fails to distinguish between the proportion of respondents who hold a particular view and the absolute number of people who hold that view
  2. B
    takes for granted that because two characteristics frequently occur together, one must be the cause of the other
  3. generalizes about the attitudes of an entire group based on the opinions of a subset that is likely unrepresentativeAnswer
  4. D
    incorrectly infers that because a specific attitude is prevalent among a group as a whole, it must be shared by every individual member of that group
  5. E
    treats evidence showing that a claim is true of most members of a group as if it showed the claim to be true of all members of the group

Answer

The correct answer is the option stating that the argument generalizes about an entire group based on an unrepresentative subset.
The correct answer accurately diagnoses the sampling bias in the argument. The administrator is trying to draw a conclusion about the entire alumni population, but uses evidence derived exclusively from a highly specific, non-random subset: alumni who donated at least $500. This group is likely to be systematically different from the broader alumni base (e.g., they may be wealthier, older, or more supportive of the administration's decisions in general), making the sample fundamentally unrepresentative.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the conclusion of the argument.
The conclusion is: 'it is clear that the overwhelming majority of our alumni favor the transition to online-only summer courses.'
Finding the conclusion clarifies exactly what the author is trying to prove.
2
Identify the premise (evidence) supporting the conclusion.
The premise is that over 80 percent of respondents to a survey sent to alumni who contributed $500 or more support the shift.
Understanding the evidence is necessary to see the gap between the premise and the conclusion.
3
Evaluate the relationship between the premise and the conclusion to find the logical gap.
The evidence relies entirely on alumni who made significant financial donations, but the conclusion makes a claim about all alumni. Financial donors are a self-selected, highly engaged subset whose opinions likely differ from the general alumni population.
Recognizing this gap isolates the specific vulnerability (flaw) in the reasoning.
4
Match the identified flaw with the correct abstract description in the choices.
The flaw is an unrepresentative sample, which perfectly matches the option describing a generalization based on a likely unrepresentative subset.
LSAT Flaw questions require mapping your specific critique of the argument to the generalized, abstract language used in the correct answer choice.

Key Concept

Unrepresentative Sample / Survey Bias
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Sampling and Survey Flaws

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