Self-study
Conclusion Statistical records of crime rates probably often reflect as much about the motives and methods of those who compile or cite them as they do about the actual incidence of crime. ███ ██████ ███ ███████████ █████ ██ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ █████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ███ █ ██████ █████████ ███████████ ███ ███████ █████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ ███████ ███████████ ██ ███████ █████ ██████████████ █████ ██████████ ██ ████████ ███████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that crime statistics likely reveal as much about the motives of those who report them as they do about actual crime rates. She supports this with three examples: police may underreport or overreport crime to influence their image or budget; politicians may exaggerate or downplay crime to help their campaigns; and newspapers may sensationalize crime to boost readership.
Describe Method of Reasoning
The author supports her conclusion by providing three examples that demonstrate its truth.
4.
The argument proceeds by doing █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
evaluating evidence for ███ ███████ ███ ██████████
The author only presents evidence for her conclusion; she doesn’t evaluate evidence against it.
b
citing examples in ███████ ██ ███ ██████████
The author cites three examples to support her conclusion. She cites police, politicians, and newspapers as examples of groups that may overreport or underreport crime statistics for their own purposes.
c
deriving implications of █ ██████████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ██ ████
The author’s three examples— police, politicians, and newspapers who may manipulate crime statistics— are not necessary implications of an assumed generalization. Instead, they’re examples that serve as evidence to support the author’s conclusion.
d
enumerating problems for █████ ██ ████████ █ ███████ ████████
The author never proposes a general solution, nor does she claim that the manipulation of crime statistics is a problem in the first place. She simply states her conclusion and gives examples to back it up.
e
showing how evidence ████ ██████████ ███████████ ███ ██████████ ████████ ████████ ████ ██████████
The author’s evidence never appears to contradict her conclusion. It supports her conclusion by providing three examples that demonstrate it.