Which sentence contains a misplaced modifier?

• A. The researcher analyzed the data using a method that was outdated.
• B. The data, the researcher said, were analyzed using an outdated method.
• C. The researcher, using an outdated method, analyzed the data.
• D. The data, using an outdated method, were analyzed by the researcher.

Answer: (D)

A misplaced modifier occurs when a descriptive phrase is placed so that it seems to describe the wrong word, making the meaning unclear or illogical.

In the sentence notated, the phrase using an outdated method is a participial modifier intended to describe how the data were analyzed. Placing it after the data makes it look as if the data themselves used the method, which isn’t what happened. That attachment creates confusion about who performed the action.

To fix the idea clearly, shift the modifier to attach to the actor or to the act of analyzing: Using an outdated method, the researcher analyzed the data. or The data were analyzed by the researcher using an outdated method. Both make it clear who used the method and how the analysis was done.

Among the other sentences, one places the modifier with the actor, which makes sense because the researcher is the one applying the method; another sentences keeps a clause in a way that doesn’t blur who is performing the action; and one keeps the method clearly tied to the action of analyzing, avoiding any misattachment.