Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers 2

Question 1

A study found that employees who participate in wellness programs take fewer sick days. A manager concludes that wellness programs cause employees to be healthier. Which statement best evaluates this conclusion?

Accepted Answer

The conclusion may be flawed because healthier employees may self-select into wellness programs.

Answer

Healthier employees may already be more likely to join wellness programs (selection bias), meaning the correlation does not establish causation.

Question 2

Statement: 'All mammals are warm-blooded. Dolphins are mammals.' Conclusion: 'Therefore, dolphins are warm-blooded.' Evaluate this conclusion.

Accepted Answer

The conclusion follows necessarily from the given statements.

Answer

This is a valid deductive syllogism: if all mammals are warm-blooded and dolphins are mammals, then dolphins must be warm-blooded.

Question 3

A city council reports that after installing more streetlights, crime rates dropped by 20%. A council member concludes that the streetlights reduced crime. What is the strongest challenge to this conclusion?

Accepted Answer

Crime rates were already declining before streetlights were installed.

Answer

If crime was already trending downward, the streetlights may not be the cause of the reduction — a pre-existing trend undermines the causal claim.

Question 4

Research shows that children who eat breakfast perform better academically. A school policy maker concludes that providing free breakfasts will improve all students' grades. Which conclusion is best supported?

Accepted Answer

Providing breakfasts may help students who previously skipped breakfast but may not affect those who already ate.

Answer

The benefit of breakfast likely applies mainly to students who were skipping it; those who already ate breakfast are unlikely to show additional gains.

Question 5

An economist states: 'Countries with higher chocolate consumption have more Nobel Prize winners per capita.' She concludes that chocolate boosts brain function. How should this conclusion be classified?

Accepted Answer

Likely false — the conclusion confuses correlation with causation and ignores confounding variables.

Answer

Wealthier nations tend to both consume more chocolate and produce more Nobel laureates; wealth is a confounding variable, making the causal claim unfounded.

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Practice Test

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Practice Test

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers 2