Question

Identify the purported cause, the purported effect, as well as the method used to support the conclusion: agreement, difference, joint method, method of concomitant variations, or residues.

(a) The increased planting of trees in our cities must be contributing to the rapid rise of urban smog, for the levels of smog actually observed cannot be accounted for by industrial, residential, and automotive emissions alone.

(b) Rayblocker sunblock lotion is superior. We tested it on Kevin , Mary, Alicia, and Joe, putting Rayblocker on one arm and the leading brand on the other. They all went swimming for hours, and in each case the arms with Rayblocker were fine, while those with the leading brand were fried to a crisp.

Answer 1

a. Planting of trees is the cause, while rise of urban smog is the effect. Here the method of residues is used because it is already ascertained that smog cannot be accounted for by industrial, residential, and automotive emissions alone, and thus the only remaining variable is planting of trees.

b. The sunblock’s brand is the cause, while becoming tanned is the effect. The joint method applies here to reach the conclusion. The joint method combines agreement and difference. In this case for is seen that those who used Rayblocker sunblock were fine whereas those who used another band’s sunblock became tanned.