Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal FREE Watson Glaser Interpretation Question and Answers 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Passage: In a national health survey, adults who reported sleeping fewer than six hours per night were twice as likely to report chronic fatigue and 40% more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to those sleeping seven to nine hours. Which conclusion is most defensible?
- Sleeping fewer than six hours is associated with higher rates of fatigue and depressive symptoms. (Correct answer)
- Depression causes people to sleep fewer than six hours every night.
- All adults who sleep less than six hours will develop chronic fatigue.
- Seven to nine hours of sleep is the government-mandated minimum for adults.
Correct answer: Sleeping fewer than six hours is associated with higher rates of fatigue and depressive symptoms.
Survey data shows associations between sleep duration and health outcomes; it does not establish the direction of causation or universal outcomes.
Question 2: Passage: A regional bank compared loan default rates. Borrowers who attended a one-day financial literacy workshop before receiving a loan defaulted at a rate of 4%, while those who did not attend defaulted at 11%. Which interpretation is best supported?
- Attending the financial literacy workshop is associated with lower loan default rates at this bank. (Correct answer)
- Financial literacy workshops will reduce default rates at every bank that adopts them.
- Borrowers who default simply chose not to attend the workshop.
- The bank should refuse loans to anyone who declines the workshop.
Correct answer: Attending the financial literacy workshop is associated with lower loan default rates at this bank.
The observed difference supports a within-bank association but does not justify universal policy prescriptions or attribution of intent.
Question 3: Passage: A transportation authority collected data showing that roads with speed cameras installed had a 25% reduction in speeding incidents. Roads without cameras in the same city showed no significant change over the same period. Which conclusion is best supported?
- Speed cameras appear to be effective at reducing speeding on the roads where they are installed. (Correct answer)
- Speeding incidents will disappear entirely if cameras are placed on every road.
- Drivers on camera-free roads intentionally speed more because they resent the cameras.
- The transportation authority should replace all traffic police with cameras.
Correct answer: Speed cameras appear to be effective at reducing speeding on the roads where they are installed.
The comparison supports camera effectiveness at reducing speeding in this context without justifying complete elimination or inferring driver resentment.
Question 4: Passage: A pharmaceutical trial showed that patients taking Drug X experienced a 60% reduction in migraine frequency, while the placebo group experienced a 20% reduction. Both groups were monitored for six months. Which conclusion follows most directly?
- Drug X produced a substantially greater reduction in migraines than the placebo in this trial. (Correct answer)
- Drug X is the most effective migraine treatment ever developed.
- The placebo group's improvement proves the trial was flawed.
- All migraine patients should immediately switch to Drug X.
Correct answer: Drug X produced a substantially greater reduction in migraines than the placebo in this trial.
The placebo-controlled comparison establishes that Drug X outperformed placebo in this trial, but does not rank it universally or recommend universal adoption.
Question 5: Passage: A review of 15 manufacturing plants found that plants with mandatory safety training conducted quarterly had 0.8 workplace injuries per 100 workers annually, while plants with only annual training had 2.3 injuries per 100 workers. Which conclusion is most justified?
- More frequent safety training is associated with significantly fewer workplace injuries in these plants. (Correct answer)
- Annual safety training has no value whatsoever for worker safety.
- The plants with fewer injuries must have safer equipment, not better training.
- Quarterly training will reduce injuries to zero in any manufacturing environment.
Correct answer: More frequent safety training is associated with significantly fewer workplace injuries in these plants.
The multi-plant comparison supports the association between training frequency and injury rates without dismissing annual training entirely or claiming perfect safety.
Question 6: Passage: A city's public library system reported that branches offering extended evening hours saw a 38% increase in youth visits and a 15% increase in youth program enrollment compared to branches that kept standard hours. Which conclusion is best supported?
- Extended evening hours are associated with increased youth engagement at these library branches. (Correct answer)
- Youth who visit libraries during evenings are more academically successful than those who do not.
- Libraries with standard hours are failing to serve their communities.
- Evening programming is the only strategy that can boost youth library attendance.
Correct answer: Extended evening hours are associated with increased youth engagement at these library branches.
The comparison between branch types directly supports a link between evening hours and youth visits, without implying academic outcomes or the failure of other strategies.
Question 7: Passage: A meta-analysis of 30 studies found that employees who received regular manager feedback (at least monthly) reported 42% higher job satisfaction on average than employees who received feedback quarterly or less. Which conclusion follows most directly from this?
- Frequent managerial feedback is consistently linked to higher employee job satisfaction across these studies. (Correct answer)
- Monthly feedback meetings are the single most important factor in employee retention.
- Employees who are dissatisfied simply need to request more feedback from their managers.
- Quarterly feedback sessions have no positive impact on satisfaction in any workplace.
Correct answer: Frequent managerial feedback is consistently linked to higher employee job satisfaction across these studies.
A meta-analysis of 30 studies provides strong support for the association between frequent feedback and satisfaction, but does not rank it as the sole factor or dismiss quarterly feedback entirely.
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal FREE Watson Glaser Interpretation Question and Answers 5
Passage: In a national health survey, adults who reported sleeping fewer than six hours per night were twice as likely to report chronic fatigue and 40% more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to those sleeping seven to nine hours.
Which conclusion is most defensible?