How do you know the conclusion is *The position of a car driver's seat probably does have a significant impact on driving safety* and not *The position of a car driver's seat probably does have a significant impact on driving safety Driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly*

I would suggest testing the sentence and asking "why?" So for the first sentence, you could say: The position of the driver's seat has a significant impact on driving safety. *Why?* Because the position of the driver's seat affects the driver's ability to see the road clearly. (Seeing the road clearly = safety, so we know the 2nd part is support for the conclusion) If you test the second sentence: Driving position affects both comfort and ability to see the road clearly. *Why?* In this case, the why doesn't really make sense. So this is not part of the conclusion.

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Course: LSAT > Unit 1

Lesson 6: Logical Reasoning – Articles

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Identify the role

Some questions ask you to describe the individual role that a statement is playing in a larger argument. These questions require you to understand the statement in question, but even more important is your understanding of its context and of the argument’s conclusion. Everything in an argument is in the service of its conclusion(s), so you must clarify the relationship between the statement and the conclusion.

How do we recognize ID the role questions?

The questions themselves—sometimes known as question stems—tend to be longer than average, since they usually quote a specific claim from the passage (represented by XXXXX in the examples below).

Examples

The claim that XXXXX plays which one of the following roles in the argument?

Which of the following most accurately describes the role played by the claim that XXXXX?

Let’s look at a real LSAT example together, and we’ll examine some approaches that may help you.

Example

Does the position of a car driver's seat have a significant impact on driving safety? It probably does. Driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly. A driver who is uncomfortable eventually becomes fatigued, which makes it difficult to concentrate on the road. Likewise, the better the visibility from the driver's seat, the more aware the driver can be of road conditions and other vehicles.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the claim that driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly?

(A) It is the conclusion drawn in the argument.

(B) It is a claim that the argument shows to be inconsistent with available evidence.

(D) It describes evidence that the argument ultimately refutes.

(E) It is a premise offered in support of the conclusion drawn in the argument.

What next?

✓ Mark the statement in the passage first
Role questions tell you what you need to focus on up front. One way to make sure you see the statement in question on your first read is to mark it before you start reading. Some students like to mark the claim in the passage margins, and others like to underline the claim directly in the passage:

Does the position of a car driver's seat have a significant impact on driving safety? It probably does. Driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly A driver who is uncomfortable eventually becomes fatigued, which makes it difficult to concentrate on the road. Likewise, the better the visibility from the driver's seat, the more aware the driver can be of road conditions and other vehicles.

This will also make it easier to refer back to the statement as you consider the choices.

✓ Identify the conclusion and support
After you’ve underlined the statement you’re being asked about, a good next step is to break down the argument’s conclusion and support. Many students find it helpful to think of the argument in the structure of “[Conclusion], because [support].”

Conclusion

The position of a car driver's seat probably does have a significant impact on driving safety

because

Support

Driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly.
A driver who is uncomfortable eventually becomes fatigued, and
Being fatigued makes it difficult to concentrate on the road.
Likewise, the better the visibility from the driver's seat, the more aware the driver can be of road conditions and other vehicles.

✓ Categorize the statement and predict the answer.
After you’ve mapped out the conclusion and support, you can try to anticipate the answer (without looking at the choices!) by categorizing the statement in question in terms of its role in the argument. Is it the main conclusion? Is it part of the support? Is it a subsidiary conclusion (a conclusion that follows from some support but also itself supports another claim)?

What category does the claim that driving position affects both comfort and visibility fall into?

It’s not the main conclusion – we’ve already established that the conclusion is that a driver’s seat position probably greatly affects safety.

Top tip: Ask “Why should I believe that?”
Does the statement support the conclusion? Here’s a test: if the statement would make sense as an answer to “Why should I believe that?” in reference to the conclusion, it’s acting as support. In this case, that test works: “Driving position affects both comfort and visibility” does help to explain why a driver’s seat position might affect safety. Then, the two sentences following the claim in question explain how that might be true.

So, it would seem that our statement is a premise: it is a claim that’s not supported by anything else but that is helping to support the conclusion.

✓ Look for a choice that matches the role you predicted.

At this point, you’re ready to find a matching choice. As you read through the choices, categorize them according to the roles they describe. This will help you cut past variations in wording and recognize familiar concepts.

Let’s try it:

(A) It is the conclusion drawn in the argument.
We can quickly eliminate this choice, because we know that the claim in question is support, not the conclusion.

(B) It is a claim that the argument shows to be inconsistent with available evidence.
We can eliminate this choice, because the claim in question supports the arguer’s conclusion—it isn’t an opposing view that the arguer is rebutting.

(C) It is used to provide a causal explanation for an observed phenomenon.
This choice doesn’t describe the role of the claim in question, because there isn’t an “observed phenomenon” present in the passage. The arguer believes that driving position probably affects driving safety—that’s not an observed phenomenon, though.

(D) It describes evidence that the argument ultimately refutes.
This isn’t accurate, because the claim in question supports the arguer’s conclusion, so it wouldn’t make sense for the arguer to refute it.

(E) It is a premise offered in support of the conclusion drawn in the argument.
This description matches our prediction and is the answer.

Summary

✓ Mark the statement in the passage.
✓ Identify the conclusion and support.
✓ Categorize the statement and predict the answer.
✓ Look for a choice that matches the role you predicted.

Common incorrect choices

Only partly correct: Sometimes, the first part of a choice will match the role of the claim in question; for example, the choice might start with, “It is a premise used to support the conclusion that” when the claim in question is, in fact, a premise used to support the conclusion. However, be careful to ensure that the conclusion cited in the choice you’re evaluating is the correct conclusion.

Wrong point of view: When there are multiple points of view in the passage—for example, a critic’s opinion and the arguer’s opposing opinion—make sure to keep track of them carefully and don’t select a choice that ascribes the claim in question to the wrong voice.

Try one on your own!

A new process enables ordinary table salt to be fortified with iron. This advance could help reduce the high incidence of anemia in the world's population due to a deficiency of iron in the diet. Salt is used as a preservative for food and a flavor enhancer all over the globe, and people consume salt in quantities that would provide iron in significant amounts.

Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the statement that people consume salt in quantities that would provide iron in significant amounts?

(Choice A)
It is the conclusion of the argument.
(Choice B)
It provides support for the conclusion of the argument.
(Choice C)
It is a claim that the argument is directed against.
(Choice D)
It qualifies the conclusion of the argument.
(Choice E)
It illustrates a principle that underlies the argument.

Takeaways

Separate the conclusion from the support
Keep practicing analyzing arguments to separate the conclusion from the support; role questions are only one of many for which this skill is very important.

Make a strong prediction
The choices for a role question are often very abstract, so the stronger your prediction is, the better your chances of understanding which choices to eliminate.

Ask “What is it doing?” not “What is it about?”
These questions are similar to questions in Reading Comprehension that ask you to describe the purpose or function of a claim, a sentence or a paragraph; understanding what a statement is doing is much more helpful than simply reading the statement repeatedly to understand what it’s saying

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Joey Hebl
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Joey Hebl's post “I'd argue that the senten...”
I'd argue that the sentence about driving positions is actually a sub-conclusion, and not merely a premise as the following two sentences to end the paragraph support the 'comfort' and visibility' component of the sentence in question. However, I imagine since 'subconclusion' is not an answer choice, we go with the second best option, I.e. A premise?
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(15 votes)
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mariottj
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to mariottj's post “Is there somewhere that I...”
Is there somewhere that I can find expanded explanations for the different categories that the statement might fall under? The article states that common categories include:
A question being answered
A phenomenon being explained
A causal explanation
An objection being considered
The conclusion of an opposing view
Support for an opposing view
Evidence undermining an opposing conclusion
Evidence undermining support for an opposing view
Background information

I am uncertain what some of these mean and would like definitions and examples if possible.
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(7 votes)
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fawazpiroo1
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to fawazpiroo1's post “What does it mean by "It ...”
What does it mean by "It qualifies the conclusion of the argument"?
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(6 votes)
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a a
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to a a's post “How do you know the concl...”
How do you know the conclusion is The position of a car driver's seat probably does have a significant impact on driving safety and not The position of a car driver's seat probably does have a significant impact on driving safety Driving position affects both comfort and the ability to see the road clearly
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(1 vote)
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- Allison
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Allison's post “I would suggest testing t...”
  I would suggest testing the sentence and asking "why?"
  
  So for the first sentence, you could say: The position of the driver's seat has a significant impact on driving safety.
  *Why?*
  Because the position of the driver's seat affects the driver's ability to see the road clearly. (Seeing the road clearly = safety, so we know the 2nd part is support for the conclusion)
  
  If you test the second sentence: Driving position affects both comfort and ability to see the road clearly.
  *Why?*
  In this case, the why doesn't really make sense. So this is not part of the conclusion.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (5 votes)