Multiple choice

Directions: Read the following information and answer the question that follows.

An NGO recently surveyed ten thousand women who had given birth in the last year to their first child in the city. Half of these women had chosen to have their children in a hospital or private clinic; the other half had chosen to give birth at home. Of the five thousand births that occurred in the home, only twenty-five had presented any serious complications, whereas one hundred of the hospital births had required extra attention because of complications during delivery. The NGO concluded that the hospitals are risky places in which to give birth than are homes.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the social worker’s conclusion?

  1. Women who are expected to experience complications during delivery are encouraged to give birth in a hospital or private clinics.

  2. Many doctors discourage their patients from giving birth at hospitals.

  3. Women who give birth in their homes tend to experience less stress during labour and delivery than do those who deliver in hospitals.

  4. Women who give birth to their children in hospitals often have shorter periods of labour than those who give birth at home.
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A Correct answer
Explanation

Because women who gave birth in a hospital had more complications than women who gave birth at home, the conclusion is that if women want to avoid complications, they should give birth in their homes. This would be a valid conclusion if women arbitrarily chose where to give birth.

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