Most and Some in Strength Questions.

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• 1 Like

  BinghamtonDave Alum Member ⭐ 🍌🍌

  May 2017 8716 karma

  35-1-13 is a weakening question in the phenomena/hypothesis framework about acquired beliefs. Are we looking at the same question?
• Jun_hwang Alum Member

  May 2017 38 karma

  i edited my post! it's Q15, not 13.
• 1 Like

  AllezAllez21 Member Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  May 2017 1917 karma

  I would say that 'most' is certainly stronger than 'some.' I would not say that 'most' always strengthens the argument. You need to look for contextual clues within the stimulus to indicate whether or not 'most' is sufficient to strengthen the argument.

  If the argument is about a particular case or a subset of cases, it might not matter that most cases are X, because the particular case in question (or subset) could be small enough that most doesn't impact it. For example, if we are trying to prove that Sparky the dog has a tail, does it really make our point rock solid if we say most dogs have tails? Not really, there are plenty of dogs without tails. We would need more information.

  On the other hand, if the conclusion of an argument is relatively weaker, for example it says something like "at least some Ys are X," and the answer choice is like "Most Ys are Z, and all Zs are X," then you've got a much stronger case that 'most is helpful.

  Looking at this particular question, it is an except question, where the standard for strengthening, in my opinion, is much lower. The four answers usually in some way plausibly strengthen the argument, even in minor ways, but the one answer that does not strengthen is entirely unrelated to the argument. So, I don't worry so much about how much an answer choice strengthens in an except question as I make sure it is directly related to the conclusion-support relationship. That's really related to LR questions in general: the wrong answers are entirely not impactful of the support-conclusion relationship. They're off topic and irrelevant to the flaw/weakness of the stimulus. I guess the takeaway from that is to first focus more intensely on the support-conclusion relationship before questioning whether or not the use of some or most is relevant.
• Jun_hwang Alum Member

  May 2017 38 karma

  @AllezAllez21 thank you for your response!
• 1 Like

  Mellow_Z Alum Member

  May 2017 edited May 2017 1997 karma

  Another thing to remember - in strengthening/weakening questions, 4 of the 5 answer choices will not strengthen or weaken the argument AT ALL. So the answer will always be the one that provides any support (even if it is the tiniest amount possible)