Need help understanding this GMAT CR question—whats the best way to approach it?

Question

In a survey of job applicants, two-fifths admitted to being at least a little dishonest. However, the survey may underestimate the proportion of job applicants who are dishonest because ________.

I'm not sure how to identify the best way to complete the argument. What’s the strategy for tackling these kinds of Critical Reasoning questions?

V Ritik · Accepted Answer

For questions like this, you're basically looking for a reason why the survey result might be inaccurate &mdash; in this case, why it may underestimate dishonesty.
The key is to focus on why people might not tell the truth even in the survey. Since it&rsquo;s about dishonesty, some applicants may have lied or downplayed how dishonest they actually are.
So, the best kind of answer would say something like: "Some applicants were unwilling to admit the full extent of their dishonesty." That weakens the survey&rsquo;s accuracy by showing that the real percentage might be higher.
In GMAT CR, always link the answer to what would make the conclusion weaker or stronger. Here, the conclusion is that the survey may underestimate, so you&rsquo;re looking for a reason why people would underreport.

Ranjan J · Answer

I had trouble with these too until I started breaking them into two steps: what&rsquo;s the argument saying, and what gap needs to be filled.

The argument says 2/5 admitted dishonesty but suggests this number may be too low.
So you're looking for something that explains why more people might be dishonest than reported.
Think about human behavior &mdash; job applicants might avoid admitting dishonesty even in a survey because it&rsquo;s embarrassing or risky.
So the correct answer will probably mention underreporting, reluctance to admit dishonesty, or fear of judgment.
Avoid answers that bring in unrelated factors like the size of the survey or how questions were worded unless they directly explain the underestimation.

Once you focus on what would cause underreporting, these "fill in the blank" questions get much easier.
For more details you can read this blog on " How to Improve GMAT Critical Reasoning Score"

Need help understanding this GMAT CR question—what's the best way to approach it?