Find the Missing Link in an Argument
Identify an unsupported leap from interest to a claimed result.
Supplied materials
- Original argument: “Sixteen of 25 club respondents say they like audio stories. Therefore, offering audio stories will improve every member’s reading score.” The survey asked about liking the format; it collected no reading scores and did not include every member.
- Paper and pencil; spoken responses are welcome.
Learn the idea
Reasoning explains how evidence supports a claim. An evidence item can be relevant to one claim and insufficient for another. This survey concerns reported preference among respondents, so it supports considering an audio option for that group. Improvement in reading scores is a different outcome that the survey did not measure.
Inspect changes in group, outcome, and certainty as you move from evidence to conclusion. Respondents become every member; liking becomes score improvement; a report becomes will. A useful revision narrows the claim and suggests what evidence would address the larger question. Identifying a gap need not mean ignoring all information the survey actually provides.
- Label the survey’s group and measured question.
- Circle every and improve in the conclusion.
- Explain why liking a format is not a reading-score measure.
- Revise to a supported next step and name a missing measure.
See the method in action
The survey suggests interest in audio stories among 16 of 25 respondents, so the club could explore that option. It does not establish reading-score improvement; that would require suitable score evidence, including who was measured and how.
Check your reasoning
Your answer is temporary and is not saved to an account. Download your current answer before leaving or reloading. Written work on paper or in another app stays in your own file.
See the answer and explanation
The survey measures liking a format, not the claimed reading-score improvement.
Preference and score change are different outcomes. The survey has useful preference information, but not the outcome asserted.
Take it further
Change the claim to “Many respondents may welcome an audio-story option.” Model: 16 of 25 reporting that they like audio supports this narrower preference claim, though liking still does not guarantee actual use. The gap shrinks because group and outcome now match the evidence.
Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback.
Check the subject sources
These LifeStarter passages, scenarios and exercises are authored for this Academy with AI assistance and review. External resources keep their publishers’ terms. A grade label suggests a starting level; it does not establish alignment with your school’s complete requirements.