Although parapsychology is often considered a pseudoscience, it is in fact a genuine scientific enterprise, for it uses scientific methods...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Official Guide

Critical Reasoning

Assumption

MEDIUM

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Notes

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Although parapsychology is often considered a pseudoscience, it is in fact a genuine scientific enterprise, for it uses scientific methods such as controlled experiments and statistical tests of clearly stated hypotheses to examine the questions it raises.

The conclusion above is properly drawn if which of the following is assumed?

If a field of study can conclusively answer the questions it raises, then it is a genuine science.

Since parapsychology uses scientific methods, it will produce credible results.

Any enterprise that does not use controlled experiments and statistical tests is not genuine science.

Any field of study that employs scientific methods is a genuine scientific enterprise.

Since parapsychology raises clearly statable questions, they can be tested in controlled experiments.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
Although parapsychology is often considered a pseudoscience, it is in fact a genuine scientific enterprise	What it says: People think parapsychology is fake science, but the author claims it's actually real science What it does: Sets up a contrast between popular opinion and the author's position What it is: Author's main claim
for it uses scientific methods such as controlled experiments and statistical tests of clearly stated hypotheses to examine the questions it raises	What it says: Parapsychology uses proper scientific methods like experiments, statistics, and clear hypotheses What it does: Provides evidence to support why parapsychology should be considered genuine science What it is: Supporting evidence/reasoning

Argument Flow:

The argument moves from stating a controversial position (parapsychology is real science, not pseudoscience) to providing supporting evidence (it uses legitimate scientific methods). The structure is: controversial claim + evidence to back it up.

Main Conclusion:

Parapsychology is a genuine scientific enterprise, not a pseudoscience.

Logical Structure:

The author links the evidence (using scientific methods) to the conclusion (being genuine science) through the unstated assumption that anything using proper scientific methods qualifies as genuine science. The logic flows: if something uses scientific methods → then it's genuine science; parapsychology uses scientific methods → therefore parapsychology is genuine science.

Prethinking:

Question type:

Assumption - We need to find what must be true for the conclusion to hold. The author concludes parapsychology is genuine science based on it using scientific methods.

Precision of Claims

The argument makes a definitive qualitative claim that parapsychology IS genuine science (not partially or sometimes). The evidence is that it uses specific scientific methods like controlled experiments and statistical tests.

Strategy

For assumption questions, we identify ways the conclusion could fall apart while keeping the stated facts intact. The author assumes that using scientific methods is enough to make something genuine science. We need to think about what gaps exist between 'uses scientific methods' and 'is genuine science.'

Answer Choices Explained

If a field of study can conclusively answer the questions it raises, then it is a genuine science.

This focuses on a field's ability to provide conclusive answers, but the argument doesn't mention anything about parapsychology's ability to conclusively answer questions. The evidence provided is about using scientific methods, not about producing definitive answers. This assumption isn't needed for the argument to work.

Since parapsychology uses scientific methods, it will produce credible results.

This is about the quality of results that parapsychology will produce, but the argument's conclusion is about whether parapsychology qualifies as genuine science, not about the credibility of its results. We don't need to assume anything about result quality to conclude that something is genuine science.

Any enterprise that does not use controlled experiments and statistical tests is not genuine science.

This gives us the contrapositive relationship - what makes something NOT genuine science - but doesn't help us conclude what IS genuine science. The argument needs to establish that using scientific methods is sufficient for being genuine science, not just that lacking them disqualifies you.

Any field of study that employs scientific methods is a genuine scientific enterprise.

This directly connects the evidence (parapsychology employs scientific methods) to the conclusion (parapsychology is genuine science). Without this assumption, we could have a field that uses all the right methods but still isn't considered genuine science for other unstated reasons. This assumption is essential for the argument's logic to hold.

Since parapsychology raises clearly statable questions, they can be tested in controlled experiments.

This explains why parapsychology can use scientific methods, but doesn't bridge the gap to why using those methods makes it genuine science. The argument already states that parapsychology does use these methods - we don't need to assume they're possible.

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