Question 35·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Information and Ideas
A community theater hypothesized that prefilling the optional contribution field on its online ticket checkout page with $20 would increase donation revenue per ticket purchaser by anchoring purchasers' judgments of an appropriate gift. Purchasers were randomly shown one of two otherwise identical pages: one had a blank contribution field, and the other had a field prefilled with $20 that purchasers could edit or clear. Among purchasers who made a donation, the mean gift was $16.80 with the prefilled field and $12.10 with the blank field. The researchers claimed that the result supported their hypothesis.
Which question would be most useful to answer in assessing whether the researchers' claim is supported?
For evidence-validity questions, compare the exact scope of the evidence with the exact scope of the claim. Pay special attention to conditional statistics such as averages calculated only among people who acted; if the conclusion applies to everyone, look for missing information about those excluded from the calculation.
Hints
Check the populations
Compare the group included in the reported mean with the broader group covered by the researchers' conclusion.
Consider zero contributions
Ask what additional information is needed to account for purchasers who encountered a contribution field but gave nothing.
Step-by-step Explanation
Compare the evidence with the claim
The evidence reports the mean gift among donors, whereas the claim concerns revenue per ticket purchaser, including purchasers who donated nothing.
Identify the missing information
A larger mean gift among donors does not guarantee greater revenue per purchaser. If the prefilled field caused sufficiently fewer purchasers to donate, its higher mean gift could be offset by its lower donation rate.
Select the decisive question
The percentage of purchasers who donated in each condition would allow the researchers to account for zero contributions and compare donation revenue across all purchasers.