Allen and Wolkowitz's research challenges the common claim that homewo

Question

Allen and Wolkowitz's research challenges the common claim that homework— waged labor performed at home for a company— is primarily a response to women workers' needs and preferences. By focusing on a limited geographical area in order to gather in-depth information, the authors have avoided the methodological pitfalls that have plagued earlier research on homework. Their findings disprove accepted notions about home workers: that they are unqualified for other jobs and that they use homework as a short-term strategy for dealing with child care. The authors conclude that the persistence of homework cannot be explained by appeal to such notions, for, in fact, home workers do not differ sharply from other employed women. Most home workers would prefer to work outside the home but are constrained from doing so by lack of opportunity. In fact, homework is driven by employers' desires to minimize fixed costs: homeworkers receive no benefits and are paid less than regular employees.   1  D 
 1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. advocating a controversial theory
B. presenting and challenging the results of a study
C. outlining a problem and proposing a solution
D. describing research that opposes a widely accepted belief
E. evaluating the merits of a study of a controversial topic

2 
 C 
 2. According to the passage, which of the following has been generally believed about homework?

A. The benefits of homework accrue primarily to employers rather than to home workers.
B. Home workers do not differ drastically from other employed women.
C. Home work is primarily a response to the preferences of women workers.
D. Few home workers rely on homework for the majority of their family income.
E. Lack of opportunity rather than convenience is the reason for women to work from home.

3 
 E 
 3. The passage suggests which of the following about previous research on homework?

A. It proved that home workers are unqualified for other jobs.
B. It was conducted with home workers and companies over a large geographical area.
C. It indicated that women home workers treated home work as a short term strategy to handle child care.
D. It indicated that home workers usually work for companies that are close to their homes.
E. It indicated that employing home workers was financially advantageous to large companies.

CrackverbalGMAT · Accepted Answer

1. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. advocating a controversial theory  The passage does not advocate a theory that we know from the passage to be controversial. Eliminate.

B. presenting and challenging the results of a study  While the passage does present the results of the study by Allen and Wolkowitz, it largely agrees with the results and does not challenge them. Eliminate.

C. outlining a problem and proposing a solution  The passage does not propose any solution. Eliminate.

D. describing research that opposes a widely accepted belief  Correct. The passage describes the research by Allen and Wolkowitz which opposes the widely held belief that "homework...is primarily a response to women workers' needs and preferences".

E. evaluating the merits of a study of a controversial topic  The passage does not discuss how correct or not the results of the study by Allen and Wolkowitz are - it merely presents the results. Eliminate.

2. According to the passage, which of the following has been generally believed about homework?

A. The benefits of homework accrue primarily to employers rather than to home workers.  The question is about the beliefs about homework held  prior to  the study by Allen & Wolkowitz. The passage tells us that the belief at this time was that " homework...is primarily a response to women workers' needs and preferences" ie; it benefits the homeworkers themselves. Eliminate.

B. Home workers do not differ drastically from other employed women.  This finding of the study opposes the earlier held beliefs about homework ("Their findings disprove accepted notions about home workers..."), hence cannot be an earlier held belief. Eliminate.

C. Home work is primarily a response to the preferences of women workers.  Correct. The passage clearly states this in the first sentence.

D. Few home workers rely on homework for the majority of their family income.  Nothing in the passage suggests this. Eliminate.

E. Lack of opportunity rather than convenience is the reason for women to work from home.  This is the finding of the study which opposes the earlier held beliefs about homework, hence cannot be an earlier held belief. Eliminate.

3. The passage suggests which of the following about previous research on homework?

A. It proved that home workers are unqualified for other jobs.  The passage states: "Their findings disprove accepted notions about home workers: that they are unqualified for other jobs...". Eliminate.

B. It was conducted with home workers and companies over a large geographical area.  Correct. The passage states: "By focusing on a limited geographical area in order to gather in-depth information, the authors have avoided the methodological pitfalls that have plagued earlier research on homework." Therefore, it is evident that earlier research had been conducted over a large geographical area.

C. It indicated that women home workers treated home work as a short term strategy to handle child care.  While this is described as an "accepted notion" about homework, we do not know from the passage whether this notion is backed by earlier research. Eliminate.

D. It indicated that home workers usually work for companies that are close to their homes.  Nothing in the passage suggests this. Eliminate.

E. It indicated that employing home workers was financially advantageous to large companies.  While this is true as per the passage, it is merely mentioned as a possible explanation for homework. We do not know if this is backed by previous research. Eliminate.

The OA gives (E) as the correct answer for Q3. However, I believe the correct answer should be (B), since it is 100% supported by information given in the passage about previous research. Option (E), while true (and will have been true even before Allen and Wolkowitz's research), is not stated to be supported by earlier research, which is what the question asks for. Hence, in my view, option (B) should be the OA for this question.

I would love to hear any opposing views on this, please.

I would love to hear any opposing views on this, please.

Hope this helps.

PearlRay · Answer

Q3 is talking about previous research, while ans choice E indicates an inference from Allen's research. Any official Explanation for Q3?

anumnit90 · Answer

Requesting a detailed explanation of Q3.
Thanks in advance!!

Vidhi96 · Answer

Even I choose C, later after analyzing, we see that point C states indication but the information has been clearly stated in the passage.
Last option E again uses the word "indicate" - In fact, homework is driven by employers' desires to minimize fixed costs: homeworkers receive no benefits and are paid less than regular employees. Thus implying, this was advantageous to big firms!

Hope this helps

ShankSouljaBoi · Answer

How can E be correct for q3 ? E refers to A and W 's current research. Official explanation ?

Harsh2111s · Answer

What's wrong with C in Q3 ?

What's wrong with B in Q2 ?

Please explain both.

DexterZabula · Answer

Q3. The passage suggests which of the following about previous research on homework?

A. It proved that home workers are unqualified for other jobs.

This represents the earlier belief about the homeworkers. It cannot be inferred from the passage that the previous research found it. It may some another research that had concluded this.

B. It was conducted with home workers and companies over a large geographical area.  -

Line 3 - 6 of the passage reads:  By focusing on a limited geographical area in order to gather in-depth information, the authors have avoided the methodological pitfalls that have plagued earlier research on homework. 
It suggests that "by focusing on limited area" new research avoided the pitfalls of earlier researches.
That means, not focusing on limited area was the reason, why earlier researches did NOT get correct observations, exactly the point at the heart of passage.
So, we can infer that previous researches were conducted over large geographical area.
Correct.

C. It indicated that women home workers treated home work as a short term strategy to handle child care.

Line 7 - 9 of passage reads:  accepted notions about home workers: that they are unqualified for other jobs and that they use homework as a short-term strategy for dealing with child care. 
We can only infer that this was an accepted notion; it can be based on generalized perception or on some another research.

D. It indicated that home workers usually work for companies that are close to their homes.

Out of scope: passage doesn't talk about distance of home and companies.

E. It indicated that employing home workers was financially advantageous to large companies.

Last line passage reads:  ...are paid less than regular employees. 
It says. homeworkers are paid less than regular employees. That doesn't mean they're financially advantageous to company; profits are not equal to salaries!

Answer should be B.

adstudy · Answer

I do not think that at any point in the passage we have discussed anything relatable to large companies. The term has always been 'company'

Hence  E is completely out of the race  as it is focusing for a type (large companies) that is not even mentioned in the passage.

Only B and C are the likely contenders. But B is better than C as  B is the only option that is inferred out of the earlier research  from the below part of the passage,

"By focusing on a limited geographical area in order to gather in-depth information, the authors have avoided the methodological pitfalls that have plagued earlier research on homework."

whereas C is given as a general notion and not mentioned being backed by research, as per passage.

"Their findings disprove  accepted notions  about home workers: that they are unqualified for other jobs and that they use homework as a  short-term strategy for dealing with child care."

Sajjad1994 · Answer

You can find it here https://gmatclub.com/forum/allen-and-wo ... l#p2461109 also here https://gmatclub.com/forum/allen-and-wo ... l#p2622735 again here https://gmatclub.com/forum/allen-and-wo ... l#p2623195 Cheers

PriyaBotsa · Answer

third question answer is given E, an explanation is needed

oscarpiastri81 · Answer

I believe option E is incorrect for Q3. None of the explanations mentioned are in favour of E either. What is correct then?

Saksham_144 · Answer

The question asks specifically about what the passage suggests regarding  "previous research."  We must look for the sentence that explicitly mentions "earlier" or "previous" research.
 
  Sentence 2:  "By focusing on a  limited geographical area  in order to gather in-depth information, the authors have  avoided the methodological pitfalls  that have plagued  earlier research ..."  
(The Inference)
 
 The passage sets up a contrast:
 
  Allen and Wolkowitz (New):  Focused on a  limited  geographical area - Avoided pitfalls. 
  Earlier Research (Old):  Plagued by pitfalls.  
 
  The Logic:  If focusing on a "limited" area is what allowed the new researchers to  avoid  the mistakes of the past, we can infer that the  earlier research did NOT focus on a limited area . 
 Therefore, the earlier research likely covered a  large  or broad geographical area (which led to a lack of "in-depth information").

Allen and Wolkowitz's research challenges the common claim that homewo

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Allen and Wolkowitz's research challenges the common claim that homewo

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