Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test Critical Analysis of Arguments and Evidence Syllabus

Critical Analysis of Arguments and Evidence syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Critical Analysis of Arguments and Evidence in Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Identifying Argument Components

   3 topics

   • Premises and conclusions
     • Conclusion indicator words
     • Premise indicator words
   • Assumptions
     • Unstated necessary assumptions
     • Testing assumptions by negation
   • Distinguishing argument from description
     • Claim-supported text versus mere reporting
2. 2

   Evaluating Argument Quality

   3 topics

   • Strengthening and weakening claims
     • Evidence that supports a conclusion
     • Evidence that undermines a conclusion
   • Relevance of evidence
     • On-point versus off-point information
   • Sufficiency of evidence
     • Whether evidence fully establishes the claim
3. 3

   Recognising Flawed Reasoning

   3 topics

   • Correlation versus causation
     • Spurious causal claims
     • Reverse causation and confounders
   • Common informal fallacies
     • Hasty generalisation and small samples
     • False dilemma and either/or framing
     • Appeal to authority or emotion
   • Bias and loaded language
     • Emotive wording in persuasive text
     • Detecting one-sided framing
4. 4

   Comparing and Reconciling Sources

   3 topics

   • Multiple viewpoints in one passage
     • Attributing claims to the correct party
     • Separating author voice from quoted views
   • Consistency and contradiction
     • Spotting internal contradictions
     • Identifying agreement across statements
   • Conditional and hypothetical reasoning
     • If-then statements within passages
     • Reasoning about hypothetical scenarios

Critical Analysis of Arguments and Evidence flashcards for Civil Service Verbal Reasoning Test

20 of 51 cards from the Critical Analysis of Arguments and Evidence deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In an argument, what is a premise?

   A premise is a statement offered as a reason or piece of evidence to support the conclusion. Premises are the grounds from which the conclusion is meant to follow.

2. In an argument, what is the conclusion?

   The conclusion is the main claim the argument is trying to establish — the point the premises are intended to support or prove.

3. What linguistic 'indicator words' typically signal a conclusion?

   Words such as therefore, thus, hence, so, consequently, it follows that, and this shows that typically introduce a conclusion.

4. What indicator words typically signal a premise?

   Words such as because, since, for, as, given that, and on the grounds that typically introduce a premise (a supporting reason).

5. What is an assumption in the context of an argument?

   An assumption is an unstated premise — something the arguer takes for granted as true that must hold for the conclusion to follow from the stated premises.

6. What is the difference between a stated premise and an assumption?

   A stated premise is written explicitly in the passage; an assumption is an implicit, unwritten claim the argument relies on but does not spell out.

7. How can you test whether a statement is a necessary assumption of an argument?

   Apply the negation test: negate the candidate assumption. If the argument falls apart (the conclusion no longer follows), the statement is a necessary assumption.

8. What distinguishes an argument from a mere description?

   An argument offers reasons (premises) to support a conclusion and aims to persuade; a description simply reports facts, observations, or states of affairs without inferring a claim from them.

9. Why does the sentence 'Sales rose 10% in May, then fell 5% in June' count as description rather than argument?

   It reports facts in sequence but draws no conclusion from them and offers no reasons in support of a claim, so there is no inference and therefore no argument.

10. What does it mean to 'strengthen' an argument?

    To strengthen an argument is to add information that makes the conclusion more likely to be true given the premises — for example by supporting an assumption or ruling out an alternative explanation.

11. What does it mean to 'weaken' an argument?

    To weaken an argument is to add information that makes the conclusion less likely given the premises — for example by attacking an assumption, offering an alternative explanation, or providing a counterexample.

12. Name three common ways to weaken a causal argument.

    (1) Show the correlation is coincidental, (2) propose an alternative cause or a confounding third variable, and (3) show the causation runs in the reverse direction.

13. What makes a piece of evidence 'relevant' to a claim?

    Evidence is relevant if it bears directly on the truth of the claim — that is, its truth or falsity changes how likely the claim is to be true.

14. Give an example of irrelevant evidence offered for a conclusion.

    Arguing 'This policy must work because its author is a respected economist' — the author's reputation is irrelevant to whether the policy itself actually works.

15. What is the difference between relevance and sufficiency of evidence?

    Relevance asks whether evidence bears on the claim at all; sufficiency asks whether there is enough relevant evidence to adequately establish the conclusion.

16. When is evidence considered 'insufficient' even though it is relevant?

    When it bears on the claim but is too weak, too narrow, or too limited in quantity to justify the strength of the conclusion drawn — for example one anecdote used to support a sweeping generalisation.

17. State the principle 'correlation does not imply causation.'

    The fact that two variables vary together (are correlated) does not by itself prove that one causes the other; the association may be coincidental, reversed, or driven by a third factor.

18. What is a confounding variable in the correlation-versus-causation problem?

    A confounding variable is a third factor that independently influences both correlated variables, creating an association between them without either causing the other.

19. What is reverse causation?

    Reverse causation is the error of assuming A causes B when in fact B causes A — the direction of the causal relationship is the opposite of what was claimed.

20. What three conditions strengthen a claim that a correlation reflects genuine causation?

    (1) A plausible mechanism linking cause and effect, (2) the cause precedes the effect in time, and (3) confounding variables have been controlled or ruled out.

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