Analyzing and Extending Ideas Flashcards

An environmentalist argues that banning plastic straws will solve ocean pollution. A critic responds that straws account for less than 1% of ocean plastic. What type of response is this?

Answer: Evidence that challenges the proportionality of the proposed solution

The critic uses data to show that the solution is disproportionate to the scale of the problem it targets.

Which scenario best demonstrates deductive reasoning?

Answer: Knowing all mammals breathe air and that whales are mammals, so concluding whales breathe air

Deductive reasoning applies a general rule to a specific case to reach a guaranteed conclusion.

A writer claims that the rise of streaming services is responsible for declining cinema attendance. To make the strongest case, the writer should additionally provide:

Answer: Controlled data showing attendance fell specifically after streaming expanded, with other factors held constant

Controlled data that isolates streaming's effect from other variables most directly establishes a causal link.

A passage proposes that because violent video games and violent crime both increased in the 1990s, video games cause violence. A student correctly identifies this as:

Answer: A spurious correlation that ignores other social factors from the same period

Many social changes occurred simultaneously in the 1990s, making a direct causal link between the two trends unwarranted.

When extending a scientific finding to a new context, which practice best maintains intellectual honesty?

Answer: Clearly identify the assumptions required for the extension to hold

Identifying assumptions makes the limits of the extension transparent and allows others to evaluate its validity.

A student notices that cities with more hospitals have higher death rates. She concludes hospitals are dangerous. What explains this flawed reasoning?

Answer: People go to hospitals because they are already ill, so hospitals cluster with illness-related deaths

This is a classic case of reverse causation: illness drives hospital presence, not the other way around.

Which strategy most effectively strengthens an argument that relies on a single case study?

Answer: Supplement the case study with broader data showing the case is representative

Showing the case is representative of a larger pattern addresses the key weakness of generalizability.