Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Interpretation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A passage states: 'In a survey, 72% of customers said they would recommend Brand A to a friend.' What is the most accurate interpretation?
- Brand A is objectively superior to competing brands.
- 72% of surveyed customers indicated they would recommend Brand A. (Correct answer)
- Brand A will gain customers due to word-of-mouth referrals.
- 28% of customers actively dislike Brand A.
Correct answer: 72% of surveyed customers indicated they would recommend Brand A.
The data reflects what customers said they would do in a survey, not objective quality or actual future behavior.
Question 2: A research paper reports that regions with higher rates of library membership also have higher average incomes. What is the most cautious interpretation?
- Library membership causes people to earn higher incomes.
- Wealthier regions invest more in libraries, which increases membership.
- Higher library membership rates are correlated with higher average incomes in these regions. (Correct answer)
- Low-income individuals do not value education or reading.
Correct answer: Higher library membership rates are correlated with higher average incomes in these regions.
The data establishes a correlation between two regional variables; causality and direction cannot be determined from this information alone.
Question 3: A passage states that employees who received mentoring were promoted at twice the rate of those who did not. Which of the following is NOT supported by this data?
- Mentored employees had a higher promotion rate in this data.
- There is a relationship between mentoring and promotion rates.
- Mentoring is the only factor that determines whether an employee gets promoted. (Correct answer)
- The promotion rate differed between mentored and non-mentored employees.
Correct answer: Mentoring is the only factor that determines whether an employee gets promoted.
Claiming mentoring is the only factor determining promotion goes far beyond what the comparative rate data can support.
Question 4: A city's recycling rate rose from 22% to 38% in two years after launching a new public awareness campaign. What is the most defensible conclusion?
- The awareness campaign is proven to have caused the increase in recycling.
- The recycling rate increased by 16 percentage points during the campaign period. (Correct answer)
- The city will reach 100% recycling if the campaign continues.
- Residents who did not recycle were unaware of recycling benefits before the campaign.
Correct answer: The recycling rate increased by 16 percentage points during the campaign period.
Only the timing and magnitude of the rate change are confirmed; the cause and future trajectory are speculative.
Question 5: A passage reports that patients who followed a low-sodium diet had blood pressure readings an average of 8 mmHg lower than those who did not. What is an appropriate interpretation?
- A low-sodium diet lowers blood pressure by exactly 8 mmHg in all patients.
- Low-sodium diets eliminate the risk of high blood pressure.
- In this study, patients following a low-sodium diet had lower average blood pressure. (Correct answer)
- Sodium intake is the main cause of high blood pressure in the general population.
Correct answer: In this study, patients following a low-sodium diet had lower average blood pressure.
The average finding applies to this study's patients and does not generalize to all individuals or establish sodium as the main cause.
Question 6: Employment data shows that industries adopting automation saw productivity rise by 18% but employment fall by 10%. Which interpretation is best supported?
- Automation always harms workers and should be banned.
- In these industries, automation coincided with increased productivity and reduced employment. (Correct answer)
- Workers in automated industries are less skilled than those in manual industries.
- The 10% job loss will be recovered once the industries stabilize.
Correct answer: In these industries, automation coincided with increased productivity and reduced employment.
The data describes simultaneous trends in productivity and employment within these industries, without value judgments or predictions.
Question 7: A passage states: 'Among people who exercise at least 3 times per week, 85% report feeling satisfied with their overall health, compared to 55% of those who do not exercise regularly.' What interpretation goes beyond the data?
- Regular exercisers were more likely to report health satisfaction in this survey.
- There is a gap in self-reported health satisfaction between exercisers and non-exercisers.
- Exercise should be prescribed to everyone to guarantee health satisfaction. (Correct answer)
- The data shows a difference in health satisfaction rates by exercise frequency.
Correct answer: Exercise should be prescribed to everyone to guarantee health satisfaction.
Prescribing exercise to guarantee an outcome for all people exceeds what the survey's correlation can support.
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Interpretation 5
A passage states: 'In a survey, 72% of customers said they would recommend Brand A to a friend.' What is the most accurate interpretation?