PT7.S4.Q10 - famous personalities found guilty of many types of crimes

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• anne2hoang Free Trial Member

  June 2014 edited June 2014 226 karma

  The most strongly supported questions are a variation of the must be true questions. They are similar in that they are both asking for an inference, based on a set of true premises. Unlike must be true questions, most strongly supported questions do not necessarily have to be true, but only probably true. The MSS correct answer choice will be most supported, but not necessarily be supported 100% of the way. MSS are more general rather than the strict must be true questions. A lot of MSS questions will give you statistics, surveys or scientific studies, then ask you to infer a potential conclusion.
• David Wayne Free Trial Member

  June 2014 edited June 2014 571 karma

  Your first problem is that you've mistakenly classified this question as a MSS question when it's actually a must be true question. A "conclusion that can be drawn on the basis of the information above" means that we're being asked to identify something that MUST be true, a task quite different than that asked of us by the MSS question.
  
  Sentence two presents us with a necessary condition for all students' mastering of a curriculum. Some students must be given varying degrees of help in order for this necessary condition to be met. Sentence one tells us that equal attention to all students will give us a mixed degree of progress amongst students. Answer choice A, the correct choice, basically reiterates the second sentence's necessary condition. The unequal treatment to which (A) refers is the idea of giving different levels of attention to different students. It expresses the exact same idea as the necessary condition set forth in the stimulus's second sentence. Getting this question correct required the ability to see how different sentences and configurations of english words can be used to express the same ideas. Read (A) very carefully until you see why it is saying the exact same thing as the stimulus's second sentence. The rest are wrong because they merely could be true, which isn't strong enough for a question asking us for that which MUST be true.
  
  In regards to Anne2hoang's comment, it is not true that the MSS question asks you to infer something. Infer means that you are identifying something that cannot be untrue, meaning it must be true (at least in LSAT terms, of course. Infer is exclusively used to refer to that which must be true whenever it's used in an LSAT question). The MSS question merely asks for a statement that derives support from the stimulus. It isn't asking for a 'valid' conclusion, although the conclusion certainly can be valid in some instances.
  
  You won't get a better understanding of the MSS question from this forum than the videos from the 7sage curriculum can give you, as they provide everything you need to know to get any MSS question, or any other type of question, for that matter, correct. Just keep doing them and you'll get better at them.
  
  
• anne2hoang Free Trial Member

  June 2014 edited June 2014 226 karma

  ^ I would have to say that you are incorrect. Both MSS and MBT are inference questions. I am going to cite JY saying that "In my mind, I lump Most Strongly Supported questions into the Inference question types (which include Must Be True)."
  http://7sage.com/how-to-approach-most-strongly-supported-questions/
  
  I think I understand where your point of confusion is. You use the word "infer" interchangeably with "must be true." Inference questions could include must be true questions, but they are not limited to them. Inference questions could include most strongly supported questions as well.
  
  The definition of an inference is to reach a conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning. If a passage expresses a reasoning process - that the conclusion follows from the premises – then we say that it makes an inferential claim. In LSAT terms, an inference question basically asks what is the author trying to prove? This could be either be a 1) conclusion or 2) paraphrase of a part of the stimulus.
  
  Conclusion:
  It is possible for a MSS question to ask for a conclusion. The MSS stem could ask for what is "most reasonably concluded." The key word here is "most." That key word distinguishes the MSS from the MBT. The MBT stem, on the other hand, could ask for what can be "reasonably concluded."
  
  A valid argument is one where, assuming the premises are true, it is impossible for the conclusion to be false. If there is a conclusion derived from the MBT, it is a valid conclusion. In other words, the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises. On the other hand, if a conclusion is derived from the MSS it is probable.
  
  Paraphrase of a part of the stimulus:
  There is a difference between must be true and maybe true. The MBT question is asking for a statement that must be true. The MSS question is asking for a statement that is maybe true. The answer to either question must be directly supported by the stimulus.
  
  
  
• David Wayne Free Trial Member

  June 2014 edited June 2014 571 karma

  Hey Anne,
  
  We actually are not in a disagreement.
  
  I specifically specified we were in 'LSAT' territory when providing my definition of the word inference. You are correct to note that inferring something doesn't mean you've arrived at something that categorically must be true. However, when the LSAT uses the word 'inference', they are invariably asking for what must be true based on the information they have provided. I was offering that tip as advice to the original poster, as his/her mislabeling of the question with which he/she struggled seemed to be an indication that he/she was having difficulty distinguishing between the two types of questions and the way the LSAT differentiates question stems that ask for either type.
  
  You've noted that "Inference questions could include must be true questions, but they are not limited to them. Inference questions could include most strongly supported questions as well." You are correct in noting that the actual definition of the word infer is to deduce based on evidence or reasoning provided, and this definition does not require what you have arrived at to be true. That's why its reasonable to put MSS questions in the same category of MBT questions, because both ask for a statement with support, the latter strictly asking for something that is supported to the point that it must be true.However, in advising the original poster, i stressed the importance of the fact that the LSAT uses the word inference to refer exclusively to statements which must be true. Understanding this is crucial to readily distinguishing MBT stems from MSS stems, a skill that it is clear the original poster is struggling with.
  
  I concede it wasn't right of me to suggest you were mistaken to label MSS questions as a subtype of inference question, but for the original poster's benefit, i wanted to stress that it would be harmful to approach a question that asks for an inference (using the word inference) with the mindset that you are looking for a statement that is merely supported strongly, rather than categorically proven, as the LSAT's use of the word inference is used to strictly suggest. Employing your categorization without acknowledging this distinction could be detrimental, and i didn't feel that was clear from your post. Your categorization, however, is not incorrect, as it correctly employs the word 'inference's' definition.
  
  This aspect of the LSAT is the reason why JY categorizes MBT questions as "Inference/Must be true questions" and doesn't categorize MSS questions as "Inference/MSS" questions.