About this video
The video works through a logical reasoning question about two surveys of living conditions in area L. Satisfaction was higher ten years ago, when L was slightly below the national average, and lower this year, when L had reached the average. The lecturer shows that a national decline in absolute conditions explains the drop in satisfaction, even though L's relative standing improved. The choices about survey design, policies and awareness are assessed and found weaker.
You'll be able to
- distinguish relative standing from absolute conditions when interpreting a comparison.
- evaluate answer choices by testing whether each one explains both halves of a conflict.
- construct an explanation that reconciles two results that seem to point in opposite directions.
Key words
- Relative standing
- How a place compares to its neighbors or to the national average.
- Absolute conditions
- The actual level of living conditions, measured against a fixed scale.
- Reference point
- The baseline people use to judge whether their situation has improved or worsened.
- Apparent conflict
- A pair of results that seem to point in opposite directions until a hidden variable explains them.
- Explanation choice
- A candidate answer that must account for both halves of a conflict, not just one of them.
Transcript
- [Instructor] A survey taken ten years ago of residents of area L showed that although living conditions were slightly below their country's average, most residents of L reported general satisfaction with their living conditions. However, this year the same survey found that while living conditions are now about the same as the national average, most residents of L report general dissatisfaction with their living conditions.
Which one of the following, if true, would most help to resolve the apparent conflict between the results of the surveys described above? So the conflict, this is 10 years ago, 10 years ago, and this is this year, this year. And if we say, well let's say conditions, conditions at L.
So 10 years ago they were slightly below average but people were satisfied, so satisfaction. Satisfaction. I'll write okay over here. But then this year it seems like they've gotten, at least superficially maybe, gotten better, at least more comparable to the peers, to the surrounding areas, so they've gone from below average to average.
But now this year, they're not as satisfied. Not as satisfied, or let me say general disatisfaction, so not okay. So although it looks superficially like maybe things have at least relatively gotten better, but they've gone from being roughly satisfied to not satisfied.
What explains this conflict? Residents of area L typically value aspects of living conditions different from the aspect of living conditions that are valued by the residents of adjacent areas. So, I can kind of maybe make an argument that this could kind of resolve it, especially if the survey of living conditions isn't comprehensive and if it's not measuring all the dimensions that might make someone satisfied or not.
This would say the thing that's driving satisfaction, those variables, those conditions aren't necessarily, for area L, aren't necessarily the ones being measured here so I kind of could, this could start to explain it. It's not very strong so I'll just put a little squiggly, I'm hoping for something stronger, so I'm gonna squiggly outline that one.
Let's look at all the choices actually. Choice B: Between the times that the two surveys were conducted, the average living conditions in L's country had substantially declined. So this one actually makes a lot of sense. So let's say that this is average conditions in the country.
So L conditions and then let's say L satisfaction. So this is before and then this is now. I'm gonna put some numbers here. Let's say we assume this statement B is true. Between the two times that the two surveys were conducted, the average living conditions in L's country had substantially declined.
So let's say the average conditions went from nine to five on a scale of 10. Let's say before L's conditions were slightly below average so let's say they were eight and now they became average. So even though relatively it seems better, they've gone from below average to average, on absolute terms things have gotten worse so it makes sense that maybe their satisfaction here might have been a nine but now their satisfaction here might be a five.
So it makes sense, complete sense, why their satisfaction might go down, even though their relative conditions might have improved slightly because their absolute conditions got worse. So I like this explanation, very clear one. Let's look at the other choices.
Optimal living conditions were established in the survey by taking into account governmental policies and public demands on three continents. Well that doesn't really resolve the conflict. It might give me a little bit more confidence in how the optimal living conditions were considered.
It doesn't seem to really solve the conflict. Living conditions in an area generally improve only if residents perceive their situation as somehow in need of improvement. Well, that might have explained why living conditions didn't improve in that area but it doesn't explain that your relative conditions got better but your satisfaction went down.
B does that very clearly. Ten years ago the residents of area L were not aware that their living conditions were below the national average. So, that could play into it a little bit. Maybe they weren't aware of it and now, but it still doesn't fully explain it that well because now they are at the national average.
So you would think that now, even if they might be aware, they're like well hey, things have relatively improved so why am I more dissatisfied? And we're now at average even if ten years ago we weren't so it seems like we're on the right trajectory. So this one doesn't really resolve the conflict either, at least nowhere near as well as B does.
If B does it I can think of it in a very tangible way. It resolves it very very clearly.
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