So what is the conclusion? That volunteering can benefit your well-being. Why is this? Because retired persons who volunteered their time to help others displayed fewer milder effects of aging than their nonvolunteering contemporaries. Also, they did better in social resources, mental outlook, physical outlook, economic resources, and overall functioning. What has the author done? She’s concluded a causation from a mere correlation. We know that volunteering is correlated with well-being in areas such as those displayed above, however, this does not prove that volunteering causes well-being . What if it’s a mere coincidence? What if there is an alternative explanation? Or what if instead of A causing B, B causes A? such as answer choice (E) – “those with better resources, health, outlook, and functioning are more able to work as volunteers.”
Wrong answers A) This is irrelevant. So what if the center has a self-interested motive? It does not affect the strength between its premise and conclusion. Umm? Ok. Well, if these things do not define well-being, then what does? C)This is trying to bait you into attacking the support between the volunteers and the non-volunteers. But, the stimulus explicitly states “their contemporaries’. D) Ok, what about all the other considerations listed, and what does growing old have to do with anything? The flaw is between volunteering and well-being.
Comments
So what is the conclusion? That volunteering can benefit your well-being. Why is this? Because retired persons who volunteered their time to help others displayed fewer milder effects of aging than their nonvolunteering contemporaries. Also, they did better in social resources, mental outlook, physical outlook, economic resources, and overall functioning.
What has the author done? She’s concluded a causation from a mere correlation. We know that volunteering is correlated with well-being in areas such as those displayed above, however, this does not prove that volunteering causes well-being . What if it’s a mere coincidence? What if there is an alternative explanation? Or what if instead of A causing B, B causes A? such as answer choice (E) – “those with better resources, health, outlook, and functioning are more able to work as volunteers.”
Wrong answers
A) This is irrelevant. So what if the center has a self-interested motive? It does not affect the strength between its premise and conclusion.
Umm? Ok. Well, if these things do not define well-being, then what does?
C)This is trying to bait you into attacking the support between the volunteers and the non-volunteers. But, the stimulus explicitly states “their contemporaries’.
D) Ok, what about all the other considerations listed, and what does growing old have to do with anything? The flaw is between volunteering and well-being.