redecember wrote:I'm having a lot of trouble with Flaw questions, especially the Level 3 and 4's from the Cambridge bundles.. Can anyone tell me their approach to these questions or have any quick tips on how to improve?
To begin with, Flaws are part of the assumption family, so upon reading the question stimulus you should first realize that a gap exists in the question stem. Now then, as a side note, I recommend you read, assuming you have not done so, the description of flaws presented in the LRB, because it describes all the flaws I have ever come across. Anyways, after reading the question stimulus, I move into the question stem and look for a gap, depending upon your familiarization with flaws, which is why I noted the description in the LRB, you should be able to see why the core does not necessarily follow from the supporting premises. There are a couple things which I are at the front of my list of flaws.
For me when I see conditional language in the conclusion, I first mentally eliminate the possibility of a MR or MN, usually its one or the other. If causation in the core, specifically if the core is worded in absolutes, then the correct answer will address the possibility of an alternative cause.
If neither conditional nor causation, then I think about mistaken analogies, formal logic or a misuse of percentages which would lead to a mistaken inference, source arguments, and circular reasoning. Now of course a couple things should stick out at you when reading the question stem, namely assumptions. When the core uses a different term than the premises, you should expect the correct answer to address this gap. The list goes on and on, and the process I mentioned above depends entirely upon the language in the question stem and takes place very quickly in my head and by no means is exhaustive, you just gotta drill them to recognize the gaps and then correctly identify the flaws quickly and consistently. Once you do, like all LR questions, you'll become more confident in your selected answer and be able to pull the trigger and move on more quickly.
