LSAT Explanation PT 32, S4, Q24: The increasing complexity of scientific inquiry
LSAT Question Stem
If all of the statements above are true, which one of the following must be true?
Logical Reasoning Question Type
This is a Must Be True question.
Correct Answer
The correct answer to this question is B.
LSAT Question Complete Explanation
This is a Must Be True (MBT) question. We need to determine which answer choice must be true based on the information provided in the passage.
Passage Summary:
The passage discusses the increasing complexity of scientific inquiry and how it has led to more multiauthored technical articles. It provides two examples: clinical trials involving patients from several hospitals are usually coauthored by physicians from each participating hospital, and physics papers reporting results from experiments using subsystems developed at various laboratories generally have authors from each laboratory.
Let's now evaluate each answer choice:
Answer choice (A): The passage does not provide information about who conducts the studies, only who authors the reports. The passage states that reports involving patients from several hospitals are usually coauthored by physicians from each participating hospital. "Usually" does not necessarily mean "always," so we cannot conclude that clinical trials are never conducted solely by physicians from just one hospital. This answer choice is not supported by the passage.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice is a paraphrase of the second sentence in the passage, which states that reports of clinical trials involving patients from several hospitals are usually coauthored by physicians from each participating hospital. "Usually" can be translated to "most," so this answer choice must be true based on the passage.
Answer choice (C): The passage does discuss the increase in multiauthored technical articles, but it does not provide information about the frequency of multiauthored technical articles involving authors from different institutions. The frequency mentioned in the passage only refers to clinical trial reports. This answer choice is not supported by the passage.
Answer choice (D): This answer choice reverses the information provided in the passage. The passage states that physics papers reporting results from experiments using subsystems developed at various laboratories generally have authors from each laboratory. This answer choice says that physics papers authored by researchers from multiple laboratories usually report results from experiments using subsystems developed at each laboratory. The passage does not provide enough information to support this answer choice.
Answer choice (E): The passage does not provide information about the majority of technical articles being authored solely by the researchers who conducted the experiments. It only discusses the increasing number of multiauthored technical articles. This answer choice is not supported by the passage.
Based on our analysis, the correct answer choice is (B), as it is directly supported by the information provided in the passage.