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Zorluk: OrtaLogical Arguments and Causal Relationships

A fintech company implemented an automated peer-to-peer appreciation platform allowing employees to award micro-bonuses and commendations to colleagues in other departments. Over the following six months, cross-departmental dispute escalations submitted to executive management decreased by 35%. The HR analytics committee concluded that the appreciation platform directly caused the reduction in escalations by fostering cross-team goodwill.

Which of the following findings, if true, represent valid logical evaluations of the HR analytics committee's causal conclusion? Select TWO options: one statement that strongly STRENGTHENS the causal claim and one statement that provides a valid ALTERNATIVE CAUSAL EXPLANATION that weakens the claim.

  1. Departments with the highest platform adoption rates experienced the largest percentage decreases in dispute escalations, whereas departments with negligible platform activity saw no change in escalation rates.Cevap
  2. Simultaneously with the platform's launch, executive management instituted a strict policy that penalized department heads whose teams failed to resolve disputes internally before escalating them.Cevap
  3. C
    Employees who received fewer escalations from other departments subsequently awarded significantly higher numbers of micro-bonuses back to those teams.
  4. D
    The monetary value of all micro-bonuses distributed across the entire six-month period accounted for less than 0.5% of the company's total payroll expenditure.
  5. E
    Over the same six-month trial period, overall employee job satisfaction scores across the financial services sector increased by an average of 2%.

Cevap

The two correct findings are: (1) the statement establishing that departments with higher adoption rates experienced larger decreases in escalations while inactive departments saw no change (Strengthener), and (2) the statement noting that executive management simultaneously instituted penalties for escalating disputes internally (Alternative Explanation / Weakener).
The causal argument claims that the peer appreciation platform caused a 35% drop in escalated disputes. The finding regarding adoption rates by department strengthens the argument by demonstrating a clear dose-response relationship between platform use and dispute reduction. The finding regarding executive penalties for escalated disputes weakend the argument by introducing a simultaneous, independent policy change that plausibly accounts for the decrease in escalations without requiring the platform's intervention.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the core causal argument in the prompt stem.
Premise: Peer recognition platform launched; dispute escalations dropped 35% six months later.
Conclusion: The platform directly caused the drop in escalations by fostering cross-team goodwill.
Evaluating a causal claim requires separating the observed event (correlation) from the inferred causal mechanism.
2
Evaluate candidate findings for a logical strengthener.
The statement showing a direct dose-response relationship (higher platform usage correlates with greater escalation drops across departments) eliminates key background noise and reinforces that the platform itself drives the effect.
Concomitant variation across controlled sub-groups provides strong empirical support for a causal relationship.
3
Evaluate candidate findings for a logical weakener / alternative explanation.
The statement detailing a simultaneous management policy penalty provides an alternate reason why escalations dropped (managers suppressed escalations to avoid penalties), undermining the claim that goodwill was the driver.
An unaddressed external factor introduced at the same time offers a competing explanation for the exact same outcome.

Anahtar Kavram

Causal Reasoning in Two-Part Analysis (Strengthening vs. Alternative Explanations)
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Konular

Logical Arguments and Causal Relationships

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