Q12 - An independent computer service company tallied

[ohthatpatrick]

Question Type:
Weaken

Stimulus Breakdown:
Conclusion: ProBit is the more reliable PC brand.
Evidence: An independent service company found that, controlling for market share, KRV had the largest proportion of service requests and ProBit had the smallest proportion of service requests.

Answer Anticipation:
If we're going to counter-argue that ProBit is LESS reliable than KRV, then how could we account for that statistic: why does ProBit have the smallest proportion of service requests, while KRV has the most?

Like most arguments that present a statistic (see also: Q9 from the same section), the author interprets it to mean one thing, and LSAT tests us on whether we can see other ways to interpret the statistic.

We might say KRV has the most service requests not because the computer breaks down more but because users of KRV happen to like this service company a lot. Maybe they treat old people very kindly and KRV tends to be owned by older people. Maybe they're just located in an area of town that has a higher than average concentration of KRV users (so it's the closest shop).

Or maybe we argue along the lines of, "Sure, ProBit users don't need service AS FREQUENTLY, but when they do it's way more dire and they are more likely to lose data" (something that makes ProBit computers sound less reliable)

Correct Answer:
B

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) The conclusion is a comparison between two things (KRV and ProBit), so anything else is irrelevant.

(B) YES, ultimately. This is vague, but it hints at an alternate explanation for the statistic. ProBit isn't being serviced by this independent company so seldomly because those computers are more reliable, it's being seldomly serviced by this indie company because ProBit users tend to take their coputer to the ProBit service department, not to an indie company.

(C) This might strengthen, if anything. It rules out the idea that this indie company is just special in its own way (geographic location .. Treatment of elderly customers ... Etc.) for some reason that would keep ProBit users away. But this answer makes it seem like this indie company is MORE likely to have ProBit customers than other indie companies.

(D) This is irrelevant, since they factored in market share when they made this tally.

(E) This might sound like a strengthener, if anything, since being in business longer might make you more reliable.

Takeaway/Pattern: Tough correct answer. I'm assuming many people will be annoyed at how (B) does not clearly indicate that it applies to ProBit and KRV in the way we need it to (ProBit users go to manufacturer, while KRV users go to an indie company). However, a correct answer on Strengthen / Weaken doesn't have to be a strong strengthener or weakener to still be the STRONGEST available. (B) at least creates some doubt, because it gives us another possible way of interpreting the statistic.

#officialexplanation