Self-study
Support The studies showing that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables may help decrease the incidence of some types of cancer do not distinguish between organically grown and nonorganically grown produce; they were conducted with produce at least some of which contained pesticide residues. ███ ███████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ ██████████ ████ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██████████ █████████ █████████
Method of Reasoning
The argument starts by explaining that studies did not differentiate between produce that was organically grown and produce that contained pesticide residues when these studies found a correlation between increased consumption of fruits and vegetables and decreased incidence of some types of cancer. The argument then concludes that said lack of differentiation proves that eating produce containing pesticide residues does not lead to any increased health risks.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is a cookie-cutter hasty generalization flaw, in which the author draws a broad conclusion from too little evidence. The argument uses evidence about a combined set (organic and nonorganic produce) to draw a broad conclusion about a distinction between groups within that set. Furthermore, the conclusion makes a claim about health risks generally, while the studies from the premise only mention some types of cancer.
21.
The pattern of flawed reasoning ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Research shows that ███ █████████ ██ ███████ █████ ██████████ █████████ █████ ███████ ███ ███████ ██ █████████ ██ ███████████ ████ ████ █ ██████ █████ ██████ ███ ████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ ███████ ███████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ████ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ █ ███████ █████ ██████
The argument starts by stating that research shows a correlation between living near modern power plants and decreased incidences of certain major illnesses, whether or not the plant is nuclear. It then concludes that this correlation means that living next to a nuclear power plant doesn’t lead to increased health risks. This commits the same hasty generalization flaw, because the research concerns the combined set of nuclear vs. nonnuclear power plants, while the conclusion is about a distinction within that set. Also, the conclusion refers to general health risks while the premise only mentions certain major illnesses.
b
Research has shown ████ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████ █ ████ ██████████ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ████ █ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████ ████ █ ██████████ ██████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ █ ████ ██████ ████████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ████████████
Wrong flaw. This reaches a conclusion that compares two potential methods of managing health based only on information about benefits from one method (exercise) without providing any way to evaluate the other method (dietary restriction). The stimulus, meanwhile, uses evidence about a combined set (organic and nonorganic produce) to draw a broad conclusion about a distinction between groups within the set.
c
Research has shown ████ █████ ██████ ███ █████ ███████████ ███ ███████ ███ ████ ████ ██ █████████ ███████ ███████████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ██████ ████████ ██ █████████ ████ █████ ███ ██████ ████ █ ███████ ████ ███ █████ █████ ████ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ██ ██████████ ███████ ████ ██████████ ████ ███████ █ ██████████ ████ ████ ███████ █ ████
Wrong flaw. This uses an unrepresentative sample: it compares motorcycle drivers who have received extensive driving instruction with car drivers who may or may not have received any instruction at all, in order to draw a conclusion about motorcycle driving vs. car driving generally. The stimulus, meanwhile, uses evidence about a combined set (organic and nonorganic produce) to draw a broad conclusion about a distinction between groups within the set.
d
Research has shown ████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ██████ ███████████ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ █████ ███████ ████████ ███ ████ █████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ ███████ █████ ███ ██████████ ██ ███████ ████ ██ ███████████ █████████ █████████ ██████████ ████ █████ ██████ ███████ ██████ ████ ████ █████ ███████ ███████ ███████
Wrong flaw. This draws a conclusion about microbial illnesses based only on evidence about levels of microbes after washing (we don’t know which microbes cause illnesses, for example, so it’s possible that wooden boards maintain those microbes more readily). The stimulus, meanwhile, uses evidence about a combined set (organic and nonorganic produce) to draw a broad conclusion about a distinction between groups within the set.
e
Research shows that █████ ██ ██ ███████ █████████ ██████ ███████ ██████████ ████ ██████ ███████ ███████████ ████ ████ █ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ███ ███████████ ████████ █████ █████ ██ ██ █████████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ███████ ████████████ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ██████ ███ ██████████ ███ █████████
Wrong flaw. Even if a moderate increase in the intake of fruits and vegetables offers an equal or greater health benefit to taking vitamins, the benefits in question could be different! Maybe taking vitamins helps with something that fruits and vegetables can’t compensate for. That isn’t the flaw from the stimulus, though—the stimulus uses evidence about a combined set (organic and nonorganic produce) to draw a broad conclusion about a distinction between groups within the set.