Linguist Deborah Tannen has cautioned against framing contentious issues in terms of two highly competitive perspectives, such as pro versus con. According to Tannen, this debate-driven approach can strip issues of their complexity and, when used in front of an audience, can be less informative than the presentation of multiple perspectives in a noncompetitive format. To test Tannen's hypothesis, students conducted a study in which they showed participants one of three different versions of local news commentary about the same issue. Each version featured a debate between two commentators with opposing views, a panel of three commentators with various views, or a single commentator.

Which finding from the students' study, if true, would most strongly support Tannen's hypothesis?

Question

Linguist Deborah Tannen has cautioned against framing contentious issues in terms of two highly competitive perspectives, such as pro versus con. According to Tannen, this debate-driven approach can strip issues of their complexity and, when used in front of an audience, can be less informative than the presentation of multiple perspectives in a noncompetitive format. To test Tannen's hypothesis, students conducted a study in which they showed participants one of three different versions of local news commentary about the same issue. Each version featured a debate between two commentators with opposing views, a panel of three commentators with various views, or a single commentator.

Which finding from the students' study, if true, would most strongly support Tannen's hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

On average, participants who watched the panel correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate or the single commentator did.

Answer

On average, participants perceived commentators in the debate as more knowledgeable about the issue than commentators in the panel.

Answer

On average, participants perceived commentators in the panel as more knowledgeable about the issue than the single commentator.

Answer

On average, participants who watched the single commentator correctly answered more questions about the issue than those who watched the debate did.