@IsabellaP It depends on what the question is asking of you or what the stimulus says. An alternative explanation is anything that is different from a single explanation. The alternative explanation in Answer D is not countering the correlation, it is proposing an alternative as to why that correlation exists. Instead of A causing B, it is instead B that causes A.
On another question it could very well be that two things appear correlated, but actually are not. An alternative explanation for why they seem correlated but are not would likely be Hypothesis 4 from before, that they aren't actually correlated. Or Hypothesis 3, that it is not necessarily A and B that are correlated with each other, but instead that both A and B are correlated with C.
I think my biggest issue is second guessing myself causing my time to increase. Got this one right, but took way to much time. When I do get questions wrong, I find often I had the right answer at first and then over thought it. Anyone else have this problem?
I think this will be answered in later sections, but I have seen the word "generalization" appear a lot on potential LSAT answers like this. Maybe someone could let me know is there is something specific they mean when they mention this?
@Garrett_dom I think the best way to think about it is a claim that applies to more than just specific examples.
"My brother likes swords." -- not a generalization
"Most people like swords." -- generalization
"All people like swords" -- generalization
"Children tend to like swords" -- generalization
I'm sure it can get more nuanced, because it's possible that a claim becomes a generalization depending on the context around it, but that's...generally (usually) how I think about it.
The reason I didn't choose D is because of the verbiage in the answer choice: "offering an alternate explanation of the CORRELATION cited"
I thought because of the wording in the stimulus, "caused by" was indicating a casual relationship. Therefore, I thought answer D was a trick question answer choice.
@Edbnapa Other people are saying the decline is caused by growth in government services. But the editorialist is pushing back on that and suggesting a different explanation.
A is correlated with B
Some people say: A causes B.
Editorialist says: B might cause A.
"B might cause A" is an alternate explanation for the correlation between A and B.
@KateA That's not our intention! J.Y. is just sharing a high-scorer's analysis of the different answers and why they're wrong or right. Is there a particular answer choice on this one that you felt this "judgy" tone? And to be clear, do you feel that this tone is suggesting judgment of viewers? Or is there some line of reasoning for a wrong answer that you felt was not addressed, and so eliminating the answer is unsatisfying? Just trying to get clear on exactly what the problem is and how it can be cleared up here or in future explanations.
@Kevin_Lin Sorry, I commented this when I was tired and in a bad mood. I guess I submitted C for my blind review and was really angry with "wow, this is so wrong I don't even know where to begin." Just felt a little condescending. But kind of a silly thing for me to nitpick about
@Feitan Right, I don't think anyone is suggesting we should draw a diagram for this question. Many explanations simply use visuals for the purpose of clarifying the logic for those who don't understand it well. But by no means should you be drawing out stuff on the vast majority of questions. Probably just 1 or 2 questions in a section are worth some kind of diagram.
Wahoo, I got it correct! It took me about 2 and half minutes but I was able to explain to myself why each answer choice was wrong. I believe it is a strong step in the right direction!
I knew it was either B or D. I think B confused me because of the language. I wasn't sure what counterexample really meant ("now knowing it means an example that contradicts the given statement") and thought at the time it meant that the author was providing an alternate example, similar to D. Should we consider this a missed question since it was due to a language misunderstanding?
I believe a lesson on how correlations can't have counterexamples would be very helpful because I didn't know that.
Been feeling a bit low since I have been struggling, not just with the material but trying to get up early in the morning to study before work then working a full shift and right back at it, but I finally got an answer right without having to do the blind review!!! I know it will take time and more practice but I just want to test good now!
@LoganHjermstad I completely understand I have been struggling to find time between school and other obligations to work on these lessons. I have been feeling behind like I should be doing more than the lessons also but I just don't have enough time.
Why is this considered a correlation phenomena when the stim says, "caused by"? I assumed this meant a direct cause and effect relationship and still got the question correct
I went a minute over and got it right. Got it reccomended for BR and got it wrong on BR because of doubt. Not the first time this has happened. Sometimes I feel like BR is pretty useless :/
@Arshavin Whenever I have a blind review recommendation I check to see if its because I got it wrong or because I spent too much time on it or even sometimes because I switched my answer too much to avoid overthinking and doubting myself.
@smallbrowngirl28 Hi! I think you can only see it once you've started the BR. At the top when it says something like this question has been flagged for BR in pink, there is a small circle with an exclamation point or something at the end of the sentence. If you hover over that circle it tells you why the question was flagged for BR.
Can “caused by” be a consistent indicator to demonstrate the causal relationship?
I.e. “This decline NGO (B) is caused by corresponding growth of gov services (A)” Therefore, anything that follows “caused by” can be interpreted in lawgic as B “caused by” A, means A causes B.
Is that universal for “caused by” being an “indicator”.
Took me 7 minutes, but I got it correct first try, and wrong in Blind review LoL. I just felt forced to choose something in Blind review..so I chose anything just to get off the screen..even though I knew none of the other answer choices were correct. Once I start PT's I hope to get much faster at questions.
Counterexample was a word I didn't know. The definition that came up: an example that shows it contradicts an idea or theory. So it's meant to disprove something or show something is wrong. So in the video, when JY says Cats are nice, and I say wait no, you're wrong, and point out that Garfield and Jerry mean-- that's a counterexample. Which is why B is wrong. The author doesn't say that the conclusion was wrong, in fact they say the conclusion might be right. That's not a counterexample. That's just being nice and curious, looking for alternative explanations.
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66 comments
got it right on br, I NEED TO READ THOROUGHLY!!!!
I'm confused by what this means: Do alternative explanations “counter” a correlation? Why or why not? #help
@IsabellaP It depends on what the question is asking of you or what the stimulus says. An alternative explanation is anything that is different from a single explanation. The alternative explanation in Answer D is not countering the correlation, it is proposing an alternative as to why that correlation exists. Instead of A causing B, it is instead B that causes A.
On another question it could very well be that two things appear correlated, but actually are not. An alternative explanation for why they seem correlated but are not would likely be Hypothesis 4 from before, that they aren't actually correlated. Or Hypothesis 3, that it is not necessarily A and B that are correlated with each other, but instead that both A and B are correlated with C.
I think my biggest issue is second guessing myself causing my time to increase. Got this one right, but took way to much time. When I do get questions wrong, I find often I had the right answer at first and then over thought it. Anyone else have this problem?
@oldguy exactly! I chose the right answer then went over the time thinking about it was the right one!
Light
ok that was light work
Timing is improving
yay, finally something that makes sense to me!
I think this will be answered in later sections, but I have seen the word "generalization" appear a lot on potential LSAT answers like this. Maybe someone could let me know is there is something specific they mean when they mention this?
@Garrett_dom I think the best way to think about it is a claim that applies to more than just specific examples.
"My brother likes swords." -- not a generalization
"Most people like swords." -- generalization
"All people like swords" -- generalization
"Children tend to like swords" -- generalization
I'm sure it can get more nuanced, because it's possible that a claim becomes a generalization depending on the context around it, but that's...generally (usually) how I think about it.
The reason I didn't choose D is because of the verbiage in the answer choice: "offering an alternate explanation of the CORRELATION cited"
I thought because of the wording in the stimulus, "caused by" was indicating a casual relationship. Therefore, I thought answer D was a trick question answer choice.
@Edbnapa Other people are saying the decline is caused by growth in government services. But the editorialist is pushing back on that and suggesting a different explanation.
A is correlated with B
Some people say: A causes B.
Editorialist says: B might cause A.
"B might cause A" is an alternate explanation for the correlation between A and B.
@Edbnapa I also made this same mistake. We have to pay attention to the crux of the passage and not what the other people were saying.
I'm tired of you going over the answer choices and being judgy about them. It makes me feel stupid
@KateA That's not our intention! J.Y. is just sharing a high-scorer's analysis of the different answers and why they're wrong or right. Is there a particular answer choice on this one that you felt this "judgy" tone? And to be clear, do you feel that this tone is suggesting judgment of viewers? Or is there some line of reasoning for a wrong answer that you felt was not addressed, and so eliminating the answer is unsatisfying? Just trying to get clear on exactly what the problem is and how it can be cleared up here or in future explanations.
@Kevin_Lin Sorry, I commented this when I was tired and in a bad mood. I guess I submitted C for my blind review and was really angry with "wow, this is so wrong I don't even know where to begin." Just felt a little condescending. But kind of a silly thing for me to nitpick about
Got this right extremely quickly without using arrows.
@Feitan Right, I don't think anyone is suggesting we should draw a diagram for this question. Many explanations simply use visuals for the purpose of clarifying the logic for those who don't understand it well. But by no means should you be drawing out stuff on the vast majority of questions. Probably just 1 or 2 questions in a section are worth some kind of diagram.
took me 2 min but we still got it! You can do it lock in twin
Wahoo, I got it correct! It took me about 2 and half minutes but I was able to explain to myself why each answer choice was wrong. I believe it is a strong step in the right direction!
I knew it was either B or D. I think B confused me because of the language. I wasn't sure what counterexample really meant ("now knowing it means an example that contradicts the given statement") and thought at the time it meant that the author was providing an alternate example, similar to D. Should we consider this a missed question since it was due to a language misunderstanding?
I believe a lesson on how correlations can't have counterexamples would be very helpful because I didn't know that.
@MRod This was exactly my way of thinking too...
Been feeling a bit low since I have been struggling, not just with the material but trying to get up early in the morning to study before work then working a full shift and right back at it, but I finally got an answer right without having to do the blind review!!! I know it will take time and more practice but I just want to test good now!
@LoganHjermstad I completely understand I have been struggling to find time between school and other obligations to work on these lessons. I have been feeling behind like I should be doing more than the lessons also but I just don't have enough time.
This made me so happy to get correct. I feel like I am finally catching up!
Ok I got it right, but I have a different reasoning on how I got it
I saw it as:
Casual Argument:
Decline in n. of NGO correlates with growth or increase of governement services
Conclusion
the Increase of Governement Services correlates with decrease in voluntareerism
Answer: alternate explaination to the correlation cited in casual argument
I got it right, but I don't understand how he got the same answer with a different reasoning
I finally got it right, crying emoji*
Genuinely felt good about this one! Long time since I felt that way lol
Why is this considered a correlation phenomena when the stim says, "caused by"? I assumed this meant a direct cause and effect relationship and still got the question correct
I went a minute over and got it right. Got it reccomended for BR and got it wrong on BR because of doubt. Not the first time this has happened. Sometimes I feel like BR is pretty useless :/
@Arshavin Whenever I have a blind review recommendation I check to see if its because I got it wrong or because I spent too much time on it or even sometimes because I switched my answer too much to avoid overthinking and doubting myself.
@KayGar Hi, how do you check if it's because of too much time, getting it wrong, etc.? Can you check this before you decide if you want to do a BR?
@smallbrowngirl28 Hi! I think you can only see it once you've started the BR. At the top when it says something like this question has been flagged for BR in pink, there is a small circle with an exclamation point or something at the end of the sentence. If you hover over that circle it tells you why the question was flagged for BR.
Can “caused by” be a consistent indicator to demonstrate the causal relationship?
I.e. “This decline NGO (B) is caused by corresponding growth of gov services (A)” Therefore, anything that follows “caused by” can be interpreted in lawgic as B “caused by” A, means A causes B.
Is that universal for “caused by” being an “indicator”.
Took me 7 minutes, but I got it correct first try, and wrong in Blind review LoL. I just felt forced to choose something in Blind review..so I chose anything just to get off the screen..even though I knew none of the other answer choices were correct. Once I start PT's I hope to get much faster at questions.
Counterexample was a word I didn't know. The definition that came up: an example that shows it contradicts an idea or theory. So it's meant to disprove something or show something is wrong. So in the video, when JY says Cats are nice, and I say wait no, you're wrong, and point out that Garfield and Jerry mean-- that's a counterexample. Which is why B is wrong. The author doesn't say that the conclusion was wrong, in fact they say the conclusion might be right. That's not a counterexample. That's just being nice and curious, looking for alternative explanations.
How would be prove this causal relationship?