CCTST Evaluation 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A study finds that cities with more libraries have lower crime rates. A mayor proposes building more libraries to reduce crime. What should a careful evaluator point out?
- Libraries are not valuable public institutions
- The correlation may be explained by a third variable such as education funding or income levels (Correct answer)
- Crime data is always unreliable
- The mayor needs more political authority to act
Correct answer: The correlation may be explained by a third variable such as education funding or income levels
A third variable (confound) like wealth or educational investment could explain both the prevalence of libraries and lower crime, making a causal inference unwarranted.
Question 2: When evaluating a deductive argument, what does it mean for the argument to be 'valid' but 'unsound'?
- The conclusion follows logically from the premises, but at least one premise is false (Correct answer)
- The premises are all true but the conclusion doesn't follow
- The argument has good evidence but weak logic
- The argument is persuasive but uses emotional language
Correct answer: The conclusion follows logically from the premises, but at least one premise is false
Validity concerns logical structure; soundness additionally requires true premises — so a valid argument with a false premise is unsound.
Question 3: A financial advisor says: 'My last ten clients who followed this strategy made money, so it must be a winning strategy.' What evaluation concern applies?
- Slippery slope
- Survivorship bias / hasty generalization (Correct answer)
- Appeal to tradition
- False equivalence
Correct answer: Survivorship bias / hasty generalization
Ten successful clients may not represent all clients, and clients who lost money may not be mentioned, making this an unrepresentative and potentially biased sample.
Question 4: Which of the following is the strongest evidence that an evaluation framework is being applied consistently?
- The same criteria are used regardless of which option they favor (Correct answer)
- The evaluation uses many different criteria
- The evaluator has years of experience in the field
- The evaluation is completed quickly and efficiently
Correct answer: The same criteria are used regardless of which option they favor
Consistent application of criteria regardless of outcome ensures the evaluation is objective and not selectively applied to favor a predetermined conclusion.
Question 5: An argument contains the premise: 'All experts agree that this treatment works.' What should an evaluator examine before accepting this?
- Whether the treatment is covered by insurance
- Whether 'all experts agree' is actually true and whether the experts are relevant and credible (Correct answer)
- Whether the treatment has a pleasant name
- Whether patients prefer this treatment over others
Correct answer: Whether 'all experts agree' is actually true and whether the experts are relevant and credible
Claims of universal expert consensus should be verified; appeals to authority are only strong when the experts are genuinely relevant and the consensus is real.
Question 6: A law firm argues: 'This precedent was established 100 years ago, so it must still be valid today.' Which evaluative weakness does this expose?
- Appeal to tradition — age alone does not establish current validity (Correct answer)
- False dilemma — only two options are presented
- Ad hominem — the argument attacks the opponents
- Equivocation — a key term is used in two different ways
Correct answer: Appeal to tradition — age alone does not establish current validity
An appeal to tradition mistakes longevity for correctness; precedents may need revision as society, science, or circumstances change.
Question 7: In evaluating a scientific claim, why is peer review considered an important quality indicator?
- Peer-reviewed work is always correct and free of errors
- Peer review subjects research to independent expert scrutiny before publication (Correct answer)
- Peer review guarantees that results can be replicated
- Peer-reviewed journals are the only credible source of information
Correct answer: Peer review subjects research to independent expert scrutiny before publication
Peer review provides an independent check on methodology, reasoning, and evidence quality before research enters the scientific record.
CCTST Evaluation 4
A study finds that cities with more libraries have lower crime rates.
A mayor proposes building more libraries to reduce crime.
What should a careful evaluator point out?