LNAT Science 4

Question 1

A pharmaceutical company funds a study that finds its own drug to be effective. An independent study finds no effect. Which principle best explains why the independent study should be weighted more heavily?

Accepted Answer

Funding bias can consciously or unconsciously influence study design, analysis, and publication

Answer

Funding bias is a well-documented phenomenon where financial interest can skew study design, data interpretation, and selective reporting, reducing the credibility of sponsored research.

Question 2

A scientist proposes a theory that can explain all possible observations, including contradictory ones. According to Popper's philosophy of science, this theory is:

Accepted Answer

Unfalsifiable and therefore not genuinely scientific

Answer

Popper argued that a genuine scientific theory must make predictions that could in principle be proven false; a theory compatible with any outcome is unfalsifiable and thus unscientific.

Question 3

Researchers test a new fertilizer by applying it to 50 randomly selected farms while 50 others serve as controls. Yields are 15% higher on treated farms. Which factor most strengthens the validity of this result?

Accepted Answer

The farms were randomly assigned, reducing systematic differences between groups

Answer

Random assignment of farms to treatment and control groups is the key feature that reduces confounding and strengthens the causal inference.

Question 4

A passage claims that because no scientist has definitively proven climate change will cause catastrophic harm, governments should not act on it. This argument relies on which flawed premise?

Accepted Answer

That scientific certainty must be 100% before policy action is warranted

Answer

The argument demands a certainty threshold that science never provides; policy decisions routinely and legitimately act on probabilistic evidence under uncertainty.

Question 5

A study shows that people who own cats are less likely to suffer from depression. A journalist writes: 'Cats cure depression.' Which inference error does the headline make?

Accepted Answer

It overstates the finding by claiming causation from correlational data and by using 'cure' rather than 'reduce risk'

Answer

The headline commits two errors: inferring causation from correlation, and using 'cure'—implying complete elimination—when the data only show a statistical association.

LNAT - Law National Aptitude Test Practice Test

LNAT - Law National Aptitude Test Practice Test

LNAT Science 4