Accuracy of Evidence

Anna Marie

Perhaps someone out there could help me out with this: on the LSAT, what exactly would it look like to "challenge the accuracy of the given evidence"? This phrase is commonly used as a wrong answer choice on Method of Reasoning questions and I've yet to see an instance where it is the correct answer. Many times it appears as a trap answer choice when an author challenges the context/cause/relevance of some evidence but isn't actually challenging the accuracy of the figure cited.

runiggyrun

I think "challenge the accuracy of evidence" would go something like this:
John: The latest Consumer Reports survey shows that 90% of the people are satisfied with the cars they bought in the last two years, while only 60% are satisfied with the cars they bought >10 years ago. This shows that cars are getting better.
Mary: The survey doesn't say that at all. It says that 80% of people are satisfied with the cars they bought >10 years ago, which is a small enough difference to not allow us to draw that conclusion.

The vast majority of the arguments are not going to go like that, where the actual facts are questioned. Most often the link between the facts and the conclusion will be questioned, so Mary would likely say "Well, that's because the 10 year old cars are now old; maybe 90% of people WERE satisfied with them 8-9 years ago when they were new; it's not fair to compare apples to oranges"

MrSamIam

@runiggyrun pretty much covered it. When they say "challenges the accuracy of the evidence" it often looks like the author is attacking the premise. In the example above, Mary attacks John's statistics (i.e. 90% is NOT accurate).