LSAT Explanation PT 34, S3, Q4: A group of 1,000 students was

LSAT Question Stem

The reasoning of the argument above is questionable because the argument 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Flaw question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is E. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

First, let's analyze the argument in the passage. The passage presents a survey of 1,000 students from three high schools in a medium-sized city, where more than 89 percent of the students answered "Yes" to the question, "Do you plan to finish your high school education?" Based on this survey, the author concludes that the overwhelming majority of students want to finish high school and that if the national dropout rate among high school students is high, it cannot be due to a lack of desire on the part of the students.

The structure of the argument is as follows:

Premise: More than 89% of the surveyed students plan to finish high school.

Conclusion: If the national dropout rate is high, it is not due to a lack of desire on the part of the students.

An "Evaluate" question for this argument could be: "Are the surveyed students from the medium-sized city representative of high school students nationwide?"

Now, let's discuss the question type and the answer choices. The question type is Flaw, which asks us to identify the flaw in the argument's reasoning.

a) Fails to justify its presumption that 89 percent is an overwhelming majority.

This answer choice is incorrect because it doesn't address the main flaw in the argument. It is reasonable to consider 89% as an overwhelming majority. The main issue lies in the generalization of the survey results to the national level.

b) Attempts to draw two conflicting conclusions from the results of one survey.

This answer choice is incorrect because there is only one conclusion drawn from the survey results, which is that if the national dropout rate is high, it is not due to a lack of desire on the part of the students.

c) Overlooks the possibility that there may in fact not be a high dropout rate among high school students.

This answer choice is incorrect because the author does not overlook this possibility but rather acknowledges it by using the word "if" in the conclusion.

d) Contradicts itself by admitting that there may be a high dropout rate among students while claiming that most students want to finish high school.

This answer choice is incorrect because there is no contradiction in saying that students want to finish high school and that there may be a high dropout rate. Wanting to finish high school and actually finishing are not mutually exclusive.

e) Treats high school students from a particular medium-sized city as if they are representative of high school students nationwide.

This is the correct answer. The argument's reasoning is flawed because it generalizes the survey results from a specific group of students in a medium-sized city to the entire nation. The survey may not be representative of the national population of high school students, and thus, the conclusion may not be valid.