Multiple choice

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

Researchers who conducted a one-year study found that one marijuana cigarette deposits four times more tar in a smoker’s lungs than does one tobacco cigarette. The researchers concluded that marijuana smokers are more likely to suffer from tar–induced lung cancer than are tobacco smokers.

Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the researchers' conclusion described above?

  1. The marijuana cigarettes used in the study were substantially smaller than the marijuana cigarettes smoked by the typical users.

  2. None of the human participants in the study had ever smoked tobacco or marijuana in the past.

  3. The tobacco cigarettes smoked by the typical user contained more tar than the tobacco cigarettes used in the study.

  4. The typical user of marijuana smokes much less frequently than does the typical user of tobacco.

  5. There are far fewer marijuana smokers in the society than tobacco smokers.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

 This is a case of conclusions arrived at on the basis of inappropriate data. When one type of cigarette is being branded more injurious than the other, we have to ask whether the two samples were indeed representative. This leads us to (3). 

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