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Section 4 LR
17. Researchers have found that people who drink five or more cups of coffee a day.....

C. The study did not collect information that would show whether variations in level of coffee consumptions are directly related to variations in level of stress, a major causal factor in heart disease.


Correct answer is C. Made when I re-examined the problem but was thrown off that the answer choice discussed stress - a factor not present in the stimulus.
Why is D wrong?

(Edited to delete question - my bad, lsac).

Also, for the second logic game on this test (questions 7-13, about the music store with ten types of CDs). Any suggestions for how to diagram this?? I was stuck on this one. Thanks

lavenderb181 wrote:Section 4 LR
Correct answer is C. Made when I re-examined the problem but was thrown off that the answer choice discussed stress - a factor not present in the stimulus.
Why is D wrong?

I haven't done this question but after reading what you just posted, I would say that it is C because it tells you that their study didn't correct for a major causal factor in heart disease, which implies that there is an alternate cause for the heart disease (stress, not the coffee). I would also say that D is wrong because they explicitly say that they corrected for smoking habits, so the differing actions of smokers doesn't affect their conclusion.

But take it with a grain of salt cause this is just off the top of my head as I see it right now. Also I don't think we're allowed to put the full text of a question on the boards, so the mods might getcha

Thanks for the explanation!

Oops and didn't know that about putting full question... wont do it again.

You're welcome, I hope it helped at least a bit. I could be wrong about the full-text thing, I'm just pretty sure I've read somewhere that it's not allowed. I'm sure that LSAC won't be chasing you down any time soon though haha.

Don't worry about stress not showing up in the stimulus here. They tell you in the answer choice that it is a major causal factor, and you can take that at face value. D is wrong because we have no idea whether the researchers smoke or not, and because we're told that the study already corrected for smoking habits, so smoking should not even enter the equation.

And I'm pretty sure the other poster is right about the full text. I'd edit the question out if you feel you understand it now.

You are trying to weaken the argument.
If the research accounted for other possible factors contributing to heart disease (age, smoking habits, etc) but didn't account for another possible factor, like stress, then their findings are not complete. There might or might not be a need to stop or reduce the consumption of coffee at least until more studies accounting for other factors are made.
D is irrelevant because smoking has been already accounted for in the research so this particular factor is up to each individual member of the research team and not for all of them.