What is an Identify the Conclusion question?
Identifying the Conclusion (otherwise known as Main Conclusion or Main Point) is all about finding the conclusion. That’s it. Which sentence is the conclusion and what is this stimulus all about? Once you know what the conclusion is, then you just have to find which answer choice paraphrases that sentence. Sometimes they’ll say the same thing but replace a few words with a synonym. For example, instead of saying “great” they’ll say “incredible”. So it won’t be word for word, but it should be very close.
Question Stems for Identify The Conclusion:
To recognize that a question is in the Identify The Conclusion categroy, you must recognize the question stems that correlate with this style of question. Almost always, the question stem will use the word “main conclusion” or at least “conclusion” as indicated below.
Question Stems to Identify The Conclusion:
- Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main conclusion of the economist’s argument?
- Which one of the following most accurately expresses the conclusion of the argument as a whole?
- Which one of the follow identifies the main point of the argument above?
Identify The Conclusion Strategy
Each type of question on the Logical Reasoning section has a different strategy. Below is the strategy for Identify The Conclusion (otherwise known as Main Conclusion or Main Point) questions.
STEP 1: Identify keywords
Identify which sentences could be conclusions and premises with keywords.
- Many keywords can be used to identify conclusions and premises. there is more information at the bottom of this blog post on this topic.
STEP 2: The “why test”
Identify which sentence is the conclusion by using the following test:
- The conclusion is always an arguable statement that can be supported by a premise. Therefore, we can support the conclusion by asking why the conclusion is true. The answer to “why” will be in the stimulus and that piece is called the premise.
- For example” if you have a stimulus that says “My teacher is the best. He explains concepts very well.” you can confirm that “My teacher is the best” is the conclusion because you can ask yourself the question “why is your teacher the best?” and it can be answered with the premise, “he explains concepts very well”.
STEP 3: The “therefore/because test”
Double-check that you identified the conclusion correctly with the following test:
- To identify the conclusion and the premise you can also use the “therefore/because” test. This test can be conducted by taking a sentence that you think is the conclusion and
- For example: “I went for a walk because it was sunny” or “It was sunny because I went for a walk”. Which one is correct. We can see that the first option entails the correct logic.
STEP 4: Matching Answer Choices
Review each answer choice and see which one matches the conclusion.
- Each answer choice will match with a sentence in the stimulus. Therefore, match each answer choice with the conclusion, premises, or if it is irrelevant and not mentioned in the stimulus.
Important concepts to know
In the above strategies and throughout the rest of this blog post, many terms were mentioned. Therefore, it is beneficial to take a quick pause an understand what these terms mean by reading the definitions below.
Main Parts of an Argument:
Conclusions —
A conclusion is a statement which is supported by another statement.
- Main Conclusion: the one statement that is supported by the other statements, and that itself doesn’t support any other statements.
- Intermediate Conclusion/Sub Conclusion: a position utilized by the argument as a stepping stone to advance toward the main conclusion
Premises—
In short, a premises is a statement which supports another statement.
It is a theory or proposition upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn (can be a fact or evidence).
- Fact: information generally believed to be true OR known to be true—usually advanced as evidence to support a premise
- Evidence: a specific type of fact offered in support of a theory or premise
Keywords & Context Indicators
The first strategy listed above is to identify keywords, which helps you recognize premises and conclusion. Below is a list of keywords that indicate those parts of the argument.
Premise
- as shown by
- assuming that
- the reason is that
- given that
- seeing that
- after all
- on the grounds that
- because
- since
- for
- due to
- for example
- owing to
- this can be seen from
- we know this by
Conclusion (can be main conclusion or intermediate conclusion)
- therefore
- thus
- consequently
- we may infer
- as a result
- so
- hence
- which entails that
- clearly
- it follows that
- accordingly
- we may conclude
- it must be that
- this is why
- it implies that
- however
- The store burnt down in the fire. Therefore, we must rebuild it.
- “Therefore” indicates that “we must rebuild it” is the conclusion, which then makes the first sentence the premise because it is a fact.
- We must start working out every day and honing into our diet due to the weightlifting competition being only one month away.
- “Due to” indicates that “the weightlifting competition being only one month away” is the premise, which then makes “we must start working out every day and honing into our diet” the conclusion.
- Also, notice the conclusion is before the premise in this example. Many people think the conclusion must be at the end, but that is not always true.
Trap answers for Identify The Conclusion:
Often the LSAT will try to trick you by putting answer options that are factually accurate and are said verbatim in the stimulus but they do not line up with the main conclusion. For instance, some trap answers will directly say a premise or an intermediate conclusion.
Additionally, keep in mind that the conclusion does not need to be the last sentence of the stimulus like we have often been trained to write an essay. For identify the conclusion questions, LSAC will make it harder to find the conclusion. Therefore, you will find the conclusion as a topic sentence or integrated in the middle of the argument.
