AWA Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An argument states: 'Our product was rated #1 in a survey — more customers prefer it than any other brand.' The survey sampled only visitors to the company's own website. What is the primary flaw?
- The survey used a rating scale instead of rankings
- The sample is self-selected from people already interested in the company's product, creating bias (Correct answer)
- Website surveys are generally unreliable
- The survey should have compared more brands
Correct answer: The sample is self-selected from people already interested in the company's product, creating bias
Sampling only the company's website visitors overrepresents existing fans and excludes neutral or competing-brand customers, making the result unrepresentative.
Question 2: What is a 'necessary assumption' in an AWA argument?
- An assumption that strengthens the argument if true
- An assumption that the argument cannot be valid without (Correct answer)
- An assumption that is explicitly stated in the argument
- An assumption that would make the argument weaker
Correct answer: An assumption that the argument cannot be valid without
A necessary assumption is one the argument logically depends on; if the assumption is false, the conclusion cannot follow from the evidence.
Question 3: An argument concludes: 'Because Region A has both high income levels and high education rates, income causes higher education.' What flaw is present?
- The argument uses too broad a geographic area
- The direction of causality is unestablished — education might cause higher income instead (Correct answer)
- The argument relies on anecdotal evidence
- Region A may not be representative of other regions
Correct answer: The direction of causality is unestablished — education might cause higher income instead
The argument assumes income drives education, but the relationship could run in the opposite direction or both could be driven by a third factor.
Question 4: Which technique best helps identify hidden assumptions in an AWA argument?
- Summarizing the argument's conclusion in your own words
- Asking what must be true between the evidence and conclusion for the argument to work (Correct answer)
- Looking for the longest sentence in the argument
- Identifying which evidence the arguer finds most compelling
Correct answer: Asking what must be true between the evidence and conclusion for the argument to work
Asking what must be true for the evidence to support the conclusion reveals the unstated assumptions bridging the two.
Question 5: A report argues: 'Test scores at schools that adopted the new curriculum rose by 10%. Those that kept the old curriculum saw scores drop by 5%.' Why might this evidence still be insufficient to prove the curriculum caused the difference?
- A 10% rise is too small to be meaningful
- Schools that adopted the new curriculum may have differed from others in funding, demographics, or teacher quality (Correct answer)
- Both curricula should have been tested at the same school
- Test scores are not a reliable measure of learning
Correct answer: Schools that adopted the new curriculum may have differed from others in funding, demographics, or teacher quality
If the two groups of schools differ systematically in confounding factors, the curriculum cannot be isolated as the sole cause of the score difference.
Question 6: An argument relies on a single case study to generalize about an entire industry. Which criticism is most appropriate?
- Case studies are always less reliable than surveys
- A single case is too limited to draw broad conclusions about all entities in the industry (Correct answer)
- The case study should have included financial data
- Industries change too rapidly for any study to apply
Correct answer: A single case is too limited to draw broad conclusions about all entities in the industry
One case study cannot account for the variation across an industry, making the generalization a hasty conclusion from insufficient evidence.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes how to address an 'either/or' false dilemma in an AWA argument?
- Accept the two options and argue for one over the other
- Point out that additional options exist that the argument has ignored (Correct answer)
- Agree that only two outcomes are possible but question the evidence for each
- Show that neither option is preferable
Correct answer: Point out that additional options exist that the argument has ignored
A false dilemma presents only two choices as if no other options exist; the response is to identify the middle ground or alternative options the argument ignores.
AWA Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions 5
An argument states: 'Our product was rated #1 in a survey — more customers prefer it than any other brand.' The survey sampled only visitors to the company's own website.
What is the primary flaw?