LSAT 135 – Section 2 – Question 04

LSAT 135 - Section 2 - Question 04

December 2011

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT135 S2 Q04
+LR
+Exp
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
1%
152
B
92%
163
C
4%
154
D
1%
151
E
1%
152
132
140
148
 +Easier 146.729 +SubsectionMedium

Panelist: Medical research articles cited in popular newspapers or magazines are more likely than other medical research articles to be cited in subsequent medical research. Thus, it appears that medical researchers’ judgments of the importance of prior research are strongly influenced by the publicity received by that research and do not strongly correspond to the research’s true importance.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that medical researchers’ judgments of the importance of prior research is influenced by the publicity received by that research. This is based on the fact that research articles cited in popular newspapers or magazines are more likely to be cited in later medical research.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks alternate explanations for the correlation between being cited in popular newspapers/magazines and being cited in later medical research. One potential explanation is that the importance of research leads both to increased citation in popular newspapers/magazines and to increased citation in later medical research.

A
presents counterarguments to a view that is not actually held by any medical researcher
Whether medical researchers hold an opposing view is irrelevant. The author’s argument doesn’t need to counter anyone’s actual views.
B
fails to consider the possibility that popular newspapers and magazines do a good job of identifying the most important medical research articles
This possibility, if true, shows that the author’s explanation doesn’t have to be true. The increased citation rate of articles cited in popular newspaper/magazines could be due to the actual importance of the research, and not due to influence from publicity.
C
takes for granted that coverage of medical research in the popular press is more concerned with the eminence of the scientists involved than with the content of their research
The author doesn’t make any assumption about whether the media emphasizes the scientists involved more than the content of research.
D
fails to consider the possibility that popular newspapers and magazines are able to review only a minuscule percentage of medical research articles
This possibility doesn’t undermine the author’s reasoning. Even if popular media only reviews a small portion of articles, researchers can still be influenced by the articles popularized by the media.
E
draws a conclusion that is logically equivalent to its premise
(E) describes circular reasoning. The author’s conclusion does not restate a premise.

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LSAT PrepTest 135 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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