Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions Flashcards
7 cards from real AWA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions flashcards as text
An argument states: 'Our competitor's sales dropped after they raised prices, so we should not raise our prices.' What assumption does this argument make?
Answer: Price is the only factor that caused the competitor's sales drop
The argument assumes price alone caused the competitor's decline, ignoring other factors like product quality changes, marketing shifts, or economic conditions.
Which type of evidence most effectively undermines a causal claim in an AWA argument?
Answer: Evidence showing the effect occurred without the proposed cause
Showing the effect can occur without the proposed cause directly breaks the causal link the argument depends on.
A study shows that cities with more libraries have higher literacy rates. An argument concludes that building libraries causes literacy to rise. What is the primary flaw?
Answer: Correlation is mistaken for causation
Correlation between libraries and literacy does not establish that libraries caused the literacy increase; a third factor like wealth could explain both.
An AWA argument claims: 'Employee satisfaction surveys at Company X showed 80% satisfaction, so Company X is a great place to work.' Which assumption weakens this most?
Answer: Dissatisfied employees may have left before the survey was given
If unhappy employees already left, the survey only captures the remaining satisfied workers, creating survivorship bias.
What does 'cherry-picking evidence' mean in the context of an AWA argument evaluation?
Answer: Selecting only evidence that supports the conclusion while ignoring contradictory data
Cherry-picking means selectively presenting favorable evidence and omitting contradictory data, which distorts the full picture.
An argument concludes: 'Since our new training program launched, productivity rose 15%. The training caused this improvement.' What evidence would most strengthen this conclusion?
Answer: A control group of similar employees who did not receive training showed no productivity gains
A control group that showed no gain while the trained group improved provides the strongest evidence of a causal relationship.
Which of the following represents an unwarranted assumption about a population based on a sample?
Answer: A poll of 50 customers at one store is used to represent all customers nationwide
Using 50 customers from one store to generalize about all customers nationwide is a hasty generalization due to a small, unrepresentative sample.