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Identifying Necessary Assumptions

42 soru

Tüm türler42Çoktan seçmeli20Çoklu seçim11Doğru / Yanlış11
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Consider the following argument:

Tech Analyst: Working in the office clearly makes InnovateCorp's employees more productive than working remotely. After all, the company's overall productivity increased by 15% last year, which is the exact same year they abandoned their fully remote policy and mandated that all employees work from the office four days a week.

Statement: To logically draw this conclusion, the analyst must assume that InnovateCorp did not also deploy a highly efficient new workflow software last year that drastically reduced the time required to complete routine tasks.

Cevabı ve açıklamayı göster

Cevap: True

Cevap

True
The statement is True. The argument makes a causal claim based entirely on a simultaneous occurrence. For this claim to be logically valid, alternative causes for the productivity increase must be ruled out. Applying the Negation Technique proves this: if the company DID deploy the new efficiency software, that alternative cause would perfectly explain the productivity increase and destroy the analyst's conclusion. Therefore, assuming the software was NOT deployed is a strictly necessary assumption.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the main conclusion and the supporting premises.
Conclusion: Working in the office makes employees more productive. Premise: Productivity increased by 15% during the same year the company mandated returning to the office.
Understanding the exact boundaries of the argument's claim is required before evaluating assumptions.
2
Recognize the underlying method of reasoning.
The argument uses a temporal correlation (office mandate + productivity increase happening at the same time) to assert a definitive causal relationship.
Identifying causal reasoning highlights potential vulnerabilities in the argument, such as unstated alternative causes.
3
Apply the Negation Technique to the provided statement.
Negated statement: InnovateCorp DID deploy a highly efficient new workflow software last year that drastically reduced the time required to complete routine tasks.
The Negation Test is the definitive, foolproof method for proving if an assumption is strictly necessary to an argument.
4
Evaluate the impact of the negated statement on the argument's conclusion.
If the efficiency software was deployed, it provides an alternative explanation for the 15% productivity increase, completely severing the assumed link between the office mandate and the productivity boost. Thus, assuming it did NOT happen is necessary.
If negating a statement destroys the validity of the argument, the original statement is a logically necessary assumption.

Anahtar Kavram

Defender Assumptions and the Negation Technique in Causal Arguments
Soru 42Soru →

Agricultural Economist: In our region, the new drought-resistant wheat variety produces the exact same yield per acre as traditional varieties. However, in the three years since all regional farmers switched to this new variety, their average net income has decreased. Since the yields have remained consistent, cultivating the new drought-resistant wheat variety must involve higher production costs per acre than cultivating traditional varieties.

The statement 'The market price for wheat has not decreased significantly over the past three years' functions as a necessary assumption of the economist's argument.

Cevabı ve açıklamayı göster

Cevap: True

Cevap

True
The statement correctly identifies a necessary assumption. By stating that higher costs 'must' be the reason for the decreased net income, the economist assumes that other variables determining net income—specifically, the market price of the wheat—have not caused the decline. Negating the statement provides an alternative explanation that completely undermines the conclusion.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the argument's core structure (premises and conclusion).
Conclusion: Cultivating the new wheat variety must involve higher production costs. Premises: Yield per acre is the exact same, but average net income has decreased.
Isolating the conclusion and premises makes it easier to spot the logical leap or missing link.
2
Analyze the conceptual relationship between the components of the argument.
Net income is a function of revenue (yield × price) minus costs. The economist observes a drop in income and constant yield, then jumps straight to blaming higher costs.
Exposing the mathematical or logical relationship reveals unstated factors, such as market price, that also affect the outcome.
3
Apply the Negation Technique to the provided statement to test for necessity.
Negated statement: 'The market price for wheat HAS decreased significantly.' If true, the decreased price alone explains the lower income. The conclusion that costs 'must' be higher falls apart.
The Negation Technique is the definitive test for a necessary assumption. If negating the statement destroys the argument, the statement is an absolute requirement.

Anahtar Kavram

Identifying Defender Assumptions (Ruling out alternative explanations)
ÖncekiSayfa 3 / 3
Identifying Necessary Assumptions Alıştırma Soruları — LSAT — Sayfa 3 | Examkin