Logical Reasoning Question Types-Purpose

Logical reasoning (arguments) purpose question types are, in many ways, similar to logical reasoning (arguments) underlying issue problems. In the latter, the examinee is asked by the question stem to identify the underlying issue of the provided passage. Due to the length and complexity of the provided passages, underlying issue problems typically require the examinee to dissect the passage and identify its various parts so that the underlying issue can be readily identified.

A similar operation is required in addressing logical reasoning (arguments) purpose questions. In fact, it is even more critical that the examinee identify the various parts of the provided passage in these questions because the examinee may be asked to identify the purpose of any component of the passage. For this reason, purpose problems are much broader than underlying issue problems.

The main skill that is tested in logical reasoning (arguments) purpose problems, as mentioned above, is the examinee's ability to dissect the various components of the provided passage and identify the purpose of those components. In doing this, the examiner could ask the examinee to provide the purpose of any portion of the passage (or argument) provided. Therefore, it is beneficial for the examinee to have an understanding of as many potential purposes as possible. This will allow the examinee to quickly identify the proper answer selection. Consider the following purposes:

1. Underlying Issue/Conclusion: In this case, the exact demands of underlying issue problems are required. The examinee must cut through all extraneous and supporting information provided in the passage and identify the underlying issue.
2. Sub-Conclusion: This is a bit more complicated than simply identifying the underlying issue/conclusion. The sub-conclusion is a conclusion that is reached based on information provided in the passage, but is itself the smaller part of a larger underlying issue/conclusion. The examinee must be able to distinguish between a conclusion and the primary underlying issue of the passage in order to identify sub-conclusions.
3. Support/Evidence: These components of the passage are usually fairly easy to spot. The examinee must be able to distinguish support from conclusions and from extraneous statements that are neither support nor conclusion.
4. Detailed Support: This purpose is actually more defined by the answer choices associated with a specific problem than by the statement as posed in the passage. While support/evidence is always definable as some fact(s) that supports the author's conclusion, the answer choices of a particular logical reasoning (arguments) purpose problem may provide a more specific description of the supportive statement provided. For example, an answer choice may read, "the statement demonstrates that Bob was holding the ball." While the generic definition of support may be technically correct, given the proper context, this latter answer may provide the best answer choice.
5. Examples: Certain statements in passages are provided to show an example of some item that the author is trying to convey to the reader.
6. Counter Claim: Sometimes examinees will be asked to identify statements that are used by the author to dispel an argument that is counter to the author's conclusion.