Marketing executive Sarah Chen discovered that understanding consumer behavior in social media required ______; by examining how information spreads t...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Marketing executive Sarah Chen discovered that understanding consumer behavior in social media required ______; by examining how information spreads through networks of friends and family, Chen could predict how product recommendations would travel through online communities.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
an analogy
a partnership
a discrepancy
a protocol
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Marketing executive Sarah Chen discovered that understanding consumer behavior in social media required _____;" |
|
| "by examining how information spreads through networks of friends and family, Chen could predict how product recommendations would travel through online communities." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Chen discovered that understanding social media consumer behavior required using one thing to understand another - specifically examining general information spread to predict product recommendation patterns.
Argument Flow: The passage presents Chen's discovery that consumer behavior analysis needed some approach, then explains that this approach involved using information spread patterns as a way to predict how product recommendations would move through online communities.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- From our analysis, Chen used information spread patterns to understand product recommendation patterns
- The blank needs to describe what kind of approach this represents - she's using one thing (general information spread) to understand something similar (product recommendation spread)
- The relationship here is using a comparison or parallel - examining how information spreads in general to understand the specific case of product recommendations
- This is essentially using a comparison between similar processes
- So the right answer should describe this comparative approach where Chen uses one process to understand a similar process
an analogy
- An analogy perfectly describes using one thing to understand something similar
- Chen uses information spread patterns as a comparison to understand product recommendation patterns
- This matches our prethinking about using a comparative approach
a partnership
- A partnership refers to a collaborative relationship between people or organizations
- The passage is not about Chen working with others, but about her analytical approach
- Students might think partnership connects to working with social media networks, but the passage is about Chen's solo analytical method
a discrepancy
- A discrepancy means a difference or inconsistency between things
- Chen is not looking for differences but similarities between information spread and product recommendations
- This contradicts the passage's focus on using one pattern to predict another
a protocol
- A protocol is a set of rules or procedures
- The passage is not about following established procedures but about Chen's discovery of a comparative method
- Students might associate protocol with systematic approaches, but the passage emphasizes discovery and comparison, not rule-following