For several years the Technology Institute has used a new experimental curriculum in its plumbing program. A survey l...

Abigail-Okereke August 29, 2022

break down

after reading the stimulus I was sure there was a causal error which is why I chose answer choice A. Why is C correct and can you explain what the flaw is and how to better spot it in the future?

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Emil-Kunkin September 2, 2022

Hi Abigail,

You are actually correct that there is a cusastion error. Just because two things happened does not mean that one caused the other. There is also another flaw here (which is the one the correct answer choice is based on), that has to do with timing. We know that the new curriculum has been in place for several years, and that last year only one third passed. The author then says the new curriculum lowever the quality. However, just because the present is bad, we do not know that it is worse than the past. Maybe only 10 percent passed before the new curriculum was instituted?

For flaw questions, many arguments will have more than one flaw. You correctly identified the most glaring one, but there was another, less obvious one. If the flaw you see does not immediately appear in the answer choices, keep an open mind about secondary flaws.

anadolorit February 16, 2023

So when two answer choices reveal two flaws of the argument, how do I choose one? You haven't answered as to why A was wrong, even though it pointed out the causation error.

Emil-Kunkin February 16, 2023

Hi, there is a causation error, just not the one that A described. There is no evidence that the lowered quality caused the new curriculum.