Q13 - Harrold Foods is attempting to dominate

[itzakadoozie412]

I'm not sure why D is correct because Im having trouble finding the 'claim' that the choice is referring to.
I chose B instead because I thought the condition of a product being 50 percent of the sales in a market was Being mistaken as a sufficient condition that guarantees the product's domination of the market. Not sure why this isn't correct.

[bbirdwell]

This is not a necessary/sufficient error. It's a definition. Domination = more than 50% of the market. This is given as fact, and we must treat it as so.

The error is that the author proceeds as if Hero actually DOES dominate the market, when all we know is that most consumers think it does.

The consumers' opinion is the claim referred to in (D). "Opinion" is always synonymous with "claim."

Any time you see percentages, pay close attention to what they actually refer to.

[itzakadoozie412]

Thanks! I didnt read closely when it said 'in the opinion of most consumers'

[jamiejames]

why is E incorrect?

[timmydoeslsat]

why is E incorrect?

While the survey results were taken in the past, which I suppose all survey results would technically be (!), the arguer does not use that to say that the results will in fact continue to be maintained.

This would be an example of the temporal flaw: what has been the case in the past does not give us sufficient justification that it will continue to do so in the present or future.

However, this flaw is not being committed here. The argument tells us that when a product has more than 50% of the sales in a market, it is dominant.

The author concluded that Hero is dominant. So did the author tell us that Hero had more than 50% of the sales in the market?

No, instead the author tells us that a survey showed 72% of respondents believing Hero was already dominant in the market.

So the author is using opinions of respondents as evidence that Hero is dominant in the market.

[bbirdwell]

I agree. The author's argument is about what things are like NOW.

ie "Based on a survey, Hero dominates NOW. And if nothing changes, they'll continue to."

The flaw here is in the assessment of the NOW based on the survey. That is, because consumers believe it, it is so.

And here's a little rundown of the others:

(A) describes a necessary/sufficient flaw, which is not at play in this argument

(B) same as (A)

(C) describes a "absence of evidence = evidence of absence" flaw, which is not at play in this argument

(D) yes! The key language here "believed to be true"

[cdjmarmon]

I got this question right but I think it was more because I did it while I was timing myself and kind of paraphrased this answer choice.

Anyway, I see why the others are wrong still. Yet, I cannot translate D in to layman terms.

Where in the argument does it take evidence that a claim is believed to be true?

[timmydoeslsat]

The argument claims that Hero is already dominating the market.

This is based on evidence that states a survey showed people believed that to be so.

[roflcoptersoisoi]

Premises:

72% of consumers believe H.Foods is dominating the soft-drinks market
Any product with more than 50 percent of sales in a market is dominating it

Conclusion:

Harold foods dominates the market now and only needs to maintian its current market share to do so.

Flaw: The author uses faulty extrapolation to justify the conclusion. Specifically he/she presumes that because the vast majority of consumers believe tht H.Foods is dominating the soft-drinks market that they are.


(A) The author is not confusing the effect of a condition for the cause of a condition. An example of this would be if the author said: H.Foods's domination of the sales market is attributable to the success of it's most popular drink, when in reality, it's the success of it's most popular drink that is attribuatble to H. Food's domination in the sales market.
(B) The author is not mistaking a necessary condition for a sufficient one.
(C) This is neither descriptively accurate nor does it tell us why the argument is flawed.
(D) Looks good. The author over extrapolates the OPINION of consumers to conclude that H.Foods is dominating the market.
(E) This is partially accurate. The author does indeed describe the survey results of the past, but not to the extent that they are likely to be true in the future as well. The author only talks about the future insofar as H.Food maintaing its market share is concerned.