Q8 - Statistics teachers often debate

[smiller]

Question Type:
Inference

Stimulus Breakdown:
The stimulus compares teaching statistics to teaching someone how to drive. When we learn theories of statistics, it's like learning to build a car. Learning to solve real problems is like learning to drive a car. We're told that most statistics courses focus mainly on theory ("building" the car). The last sentence sets up the conclusion: most drivers don't need to know how to build a car, so...

Answer Anticipation:
As with most questions of this type, the stimulus is giving us a set of premises. The correct answer will contain the conclusion that is most likely to follow from those premises. In this case, the point of the argument seems to be that statistics courses shouldn't focus on theory as much as they do.

Correct answer:
(D)

Answer choice analysis:
(A) Out of Scope: The argument isn't about students' goals. The last sentence tells us that we're focusing on what students need, which might or might not be the same as what they want.

(B) Irrelevant Comparison: The argument does mention "mathematical theories," and we're debating whether or not those theories should be the focus in statistics courses. That doesn't mean we're completely contrasting statistics and mathematics to argue that one should be considered separate from the other.

(C) Out of Scope: This is tempting. The argument discusses solving real problems, but we don't know if the ability to solve those problems is a skill that students are "most likely to use." Just as students' goals aren't actually relevant, the likelihood of using a skill is not relevant.

(D) Correct: This follows in the direction that the last two sentences were taking us, and particularly the last sentence. Most drivers don't need to know how to build a car, and most users of statistics don't need to know the underlying theories.

(E) Out of Scope: While this answer choice does focus on what students need, we aren't interested in what someone needs to understand in order to become a teacher. The argument is about what the teachers actually do once they are teaching.

Takeaway/Pattern:
The LSAT requires you to pay attention to the actual terms in the stimulus. Incorrect answer choices often introduce concepts or terms that seem related at first glance, but are not actually relevant.

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