HBRI Critical Evaluation of Arguments 3

Question 1

Which of the following most accurately describes a 'strong' inductive argument?

Accepted Answer

One whose premises, if true, make the conclusion highly probable but not certain

Answer

One whose conclusion is guaranteed to be true if the premises are true

Answer

One that relies on authority figures to support its claim

Answer

One that has been approved by a majority of stakeholders

Question 2

An operations leader presents data showing that plant downtime fell 30% after installing new equipment. A skeptic asks: 'Were there any other changes during that period?' The skeptic is trying to identify:

Accepted Answer

Potential confounding variables that could alternatively explain the downtime reduction

Answer

Whether the equipment was expensive

Answer

The vendor's reputation in the market

Answer

Whether the data was collected correctly

Question 3

A finance team argues: 'We should not enter the European market because one competitor failed there last year.' What is the primary logical weakness?

Accepted Answer

The argument draws a general conclusion from a single, possibly unrepresentative case

Answer

European markets are generally profitable

Answer

Finance teams should not make market entry decisions

Answer

The competitor may have had a flawed product

Question 4

Which approach best demonstrates critical evaluation rather than acceptance of a business proposal?

Accepted Answer

Asking for the assumptions underlying the projected ROI and requesting sensitivity analysis

Answer

Approving the proposal because it came from a senior executive

Answer

Rejecting the proposal without review to save time

Answer

Delegating the evaluation to an outside consultant without independent review

Question 5

A supply chain manager concludes from three months of data that a new routing algorithm reduces delivery time by 15%. What would most increase confidence in this conclusion?

Accepted Answer

Replicating the result across multiple regions over 12 months with a control group using the old algorithm

Answer

A testimonial from a satisfied logistics partner

Answer

Presenting the finding at an industry conference

Answer

Benchmarking against a competitor's delivery times

Question 6

An executive dismisses a negative study about their product by saying, 'That research was funded by our competitor.' This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

An ad hominem (or genetic fallacy) that attacks the source rather than the argument's content

Answer

A legitimate evaluation of source credibility

Answer

Proper due diligence in evaluating research

Answer

A conflict of interest disclosure

Question 7

A manager reads: 'Companies with diverse leadership teams outperform peers by 35%.' She concludes her company should immediately replace its leadership team with a more diverse one. The most significant flaw in her reasoning is:

Accepted Answer

She treats a correlational statistic as a directive for immediate personnel action without considering causality or context

Answer

Diversity is not relevant in her industry

Answer

The 35% figure is too small to be meaningful

Answer

Leadership diversity only matters in large companies