Q8 - The decongestant drug Zokaz was discontinued by its man

[smiller]

Question Type:
Procedure

Stimulus Breakdown:
Because one drug increased the risk of heart attack, and a second drug is similar in one way, Mark concludes that the second drug probably also increases the risk of heart attack. Kathy responds by pointing out a relevant difference between the drugs, which could undermine Mark's conclusion.

Answer Anticipation:
We're looking for an answer that involves pointing out a relevant difference.

Correct Answer:
(E)

Answer Choice Analysis:
(A) This is out of scope. Nothing in Kathy's response involves a product's overall safety record.

(B) This is also out of scope. Kathy doesn't compare Mark's argument to another.

(C) The Out of Scope Answer Parade continues! Mark does mention studies, but Kathy does not question their validity.

(D) This is also out of scope. We don't know if any part of Kathy's response involves a fundamental principle of medicine.

(E) This is correct. In this case, "argument from analogy" refers to the way Mark cites a known similarity between the two drugs and uses it as a basis to conclude that they are similar in another way. Kathy challenges this by noting a way in which they are dissimilar.

Takeaway/Pattern: Watch out for answer choices that seem relevant, but do not accurately describe what's happening in the stimulus.

#officialexplanation

[hailyduong]

During the test, I chose D. I thought the fundamental principle of medicine D was referring to was that "since they are different chemically, the two drugs probably have different side effects."

Can someone please explain why E is the better answer?

[maryadkins]

The problem is, what reason do we have to think that this chemical dissimilarity between the two drugs is a fundamental principle of medicine? I don't know what fundamental principles of medicine are, but if I read Kathy's argument, it sounds pretty good to me! Why? Because she points out that these two drugs, which Mark is comparing in order to say they're alike, are actually different in this other important way. (E) says this.

As for the others:

(A) She doesn't use the overall record of safety.

(B) She doesn't bring in another argument.

(C) She doesn't question the validity of scientific studies.

Hope this helps!

[Sweetangel]

"Challenging an argument from analogy"? Can someone help me see where the analogy is here? Thanks!

[jenclem]

I am having the same issue as the above person. I don't see where the analogy in this question is as it states in answer (E). Help, please!

[exccomm2]

Hello, First time poster, here.

The analogy is made in Mark's statement:

P: Q, another decongestant, works by essentially the same physiological mechanism as Z.
C: So Q probably also increases the risk of heart attack.

Hope this helps!

[maryadkins]

Yes, that's the analogy. Thanks!

[BogdanC356]

I can see why I rejected (E), even though it is the right answer. I didn't think the argument was truly an analogy. If you meet most people in the street and ask them what is an argument from analogy, they will tell you it compares two scenarios or sets of things rather than two things themselves.

Something like this: "Saliva is like stomach juice because they work under the same mechanism when dissolving food. Likewise, Zozak is like Qualzan because they work under the same mechanism." Yes, it's a bad analogy but it's an example of what an analogy means to people.

So just watch out for loaded words like "analogy" and "argument". They can arouse too much suspicion.

[ohthatpatrick]

I think you're just saying you think of analogy as comparing apples to oranges, whereas this one feels more like comparing one type of apple to another type of apple?

If we were saying, "Last week you were late for work because you didn't leave by 8am. Since today, again, you didn't leave by 8am, you'll be late for work again today."

Is that an argument by comparison or argument by analogy?

Either. They basically mean the same thing. Our author thinks that this week's post-8am departure will have analogous results to last week's post-8am departure.

An analogy is just a specific type of comparison in which elements are thought to match up.