Which of the following is an example of a positive statement?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

We begin by restating the question and the available choices to ensure clarity about what is being evaluated.
Question: Which of the following is an example of a positive statement?
Options:
- The government must provide jobs to those who are unemployed to lower the unemployment rate.
- Unemployment benefits are the best way to help lift people out of poverty
- Unemployment is lower this year than it has been in the last 5 years
- Free education should be provided to alleviate the problem of unemployment

Now, we analyze each option in turn.
Option 1: 'The government must provide jobs to those who are unemployed to lower the unemployment rate.' This is a normative statement because it expresses a value judgment about what should be done (policy prescription). It goes beyond describing what is and would vary depending on opinions about what should be done, which makes it a positive or normative claim depending on context, but typically this is treated as normative because it prescribes action.
Option 2: 'Unemployment benefits are the best way to help lift people out of poverty.' This is also normative, asserting which policy is best. It expresses a judgment about what policy is optimal, which is not something that can be tested purely with facts and data in the same way a positive statement can.
Option 3: 'Unemployment is lower this year than it has been in the last 5 years.' This is a classic positive statement: it describes a factual situation that can be tested with data (unemployment rates over time). It does not prescribe any action or express value judgments about what should be done.
Option 4: 'Free education should be provided to alleviate the problem of unemployment.' Like options 1 and 2, this is normative, advocating a specific policy action and expressing a value judgment about what ought to be done to address unemployment.

In distinguishing positive from normative statements, the key is whether the statement describes a fact that could be empirically tested (positive) versus expressing opinions about what should be done (normative).

Summarizing the reasoning for each option:
- Option 1: Normative claim proposing a policy mandate, not a pure factual description.
- Option 2: Normative claim about the 'best' policy, again value-laden rather than a pure factual statement.
- Option 3: Positive claim about actual unemployment levels; testable with data and free of prescribed actions.
- Option 4: Normative claim advocating free education as a remedy, which is an opinion about policy.

Therefore, option 3 is the correct example of a positive statement, because it asserts a factual condition that can be verified with evidence. The other options are normative, as they prescribe policies or express judgments about what should be done rather than stating what is or what can be measured empirically.

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Which of the following is an example of a positive statement?

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ECON 2002.01 AU2025 (21333) Final Exam- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Which of the following is an example of a positive statement?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Read the following statements and determine whether they are true or false. 1: Normative statement is a testable hypothesis about cause and effect (scientific explanation). ____ 2: A resource is scarce if the demand for that resource at a zero price exceeds the available supply. ____

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More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Making Your Study Simpler

Read the following statements and determine whether they are true or false. 1: Normative statement is a testable hypothesis about cause and effect (scientific explanation). 2: A resource is scarce if the demand for that resource at a zero price exceeds the available supply.