aReading Case Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student reads a case study about a town that banned plastic bags. The article states that litter decreased by 40% and business sales dropped 5%. What is the BEST way to evaluate this evidence?
- Accept both statistics as equally important to the author's argument
- Consider whether the statistics come from reliable, unbiased sources (Correct answer)
- Ignore the business sales data because it is negative
- Focus only on the 40% decrease since it supports environmental goals
Correct answer: Consider whether the statistics come from reliable, unbiased sources
Evaluating evidence requires checking whether sources are reliable and unbiased before drawing conclusions.
Question 2: When analyzing a case study passage, a reader notices that the author uses the phrase 'studies show' without citing specific research. This is an example of what type of problem?
- Circular reasoning
- Vague attribution (Correct answer)
- Ad hominem fallacy
- False dichotomy
Correct answer: Vague attribution
Vague attribution occurs when a claim references unnamed or unspecified sources, making the evidence difficult to verify.
Question 3: A case analysis passage describes two competing solutions to food insecurity. Solution A costs more but reaches more people; Solution B is cheaper but helps fewer families. What is the reader's FIRST step in comparing these options?
- Choose the cheaper option since cost is always most important
- Identify the criteria being used to measure success (Correct answer)
- Dismiss Solution A because it is too expensive
- Assume Solution B is better because simplicity is key
Correct answer: Identify the criteria being used to measure success
Identifying the evaluation criteria is the essential first step before comparing competing solutions in a case analysis.
Question 4: In a reading passage, the author presents a case where a school adopted a four-day week and test scores improved. A critical reader would ask which of the following questions?
- Did the school change teachers at the same time? (Correct answer)
- Is a four-day week enjoyable for students?
- How many students prefer longer weekends?
- Was the principal supportive of the change?
Correct answer: Did the school change teachers at the same time?
Asking whether other variables changed simultaneously is essential to determining whether the four-day week actually caused the improvement.
Question 5: A passage presents a case study using a graph showing rising graduation rates alongside increased school funding. The author concludes that more funding causes higher graduation rates. What logical error is present?
- Straw man argument
- Correlation confused with causation (Correct answer)
- Appeal to authority
- Hasty generalization
Correct answer: Correlation confused with causation
Correlation confused with causation is the error of assuming that two trends occurring together means one causes the other.
Question 6: When summarizing a case analysis passage, a student includes details about the author's childhood. The teacher marks this as irrelevant. Why?
- Summaries should only contain opinions, not facts
- Personal background is never relevant to any text
- A summary should capture the central argument and key evidence, not biographical tangents (Correct answer)
- The student should have included even more personal details
Correct answer: A summary should capture the central argument and key evidence, not biographical tangents
Effective summaries focus on the central argument and supporting evidence, excluding details that do not advance the main point.
Question 7: A case study passage argues that urban gardens reduce crime. The supporting evidence includes one neighborhood's data over six months. A careful reader would identify this evidence as:
- Conclusive because it uses real data
- Limited in scope and possibly not generalizable (Correct answer)
- Invalid because it involves neighborhoods
- Strong because six months is a long time
Correct answer: Limited in scope and possibly not generalizable
Evidence from a single neighborhood over a short period is limited in scope and may not apply broadly to all urban settings.
aReading Case Analysis 2
A student reads a case study about a town that banned plastic bags.
The article states that litter decreased by 40% and business sales dropped 5%.
What is the BEST way to evaluate this evidence?