During the nineteenth century, occupational information about women

Question

During the nineteenth century, occupational information about women that was provided by the United States census—a population count conducted each decade—became more detailed and precise in response to social changes. Through 1840,  simple  enumeration by household mirrored a home-based agricultural economy and hierarchical social order: the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational categories. Like farms, most enterprises were family-run, so that the census measured economic activity as an attribute of the entire household, rather than of individuals.

The 1850 census, partly responding to antislavery and women's rights movements, initiated the collection of specific information about each individual in a household. Not until 1870 was occupational information analyzed by gender: the census superintendent reported 1.8 million women employed outside the home in "gainful and reputable occupations." In addition, he arbitrarily attributed to each family one woman "keeping house." Overlap between the two groups was not calculated until 1890, when the rapid entry of women into the paid labor force and social issues arising from industrialization were causing  women's advocates and women statisticians  to press for more thorough and accurate accounting of women's occupations and wages.   1 
 1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) explain and critique the methods used by early statisticians
(B) compare and contrast a historical situation with a current-day one
(C) describe and explain a historical change
(D) discuss historical opposition to an established institution
(E) trace the origin of a contemporary controversy

2 
 2. Each of the following aspects of nineteenth-century United States censuses is mentioned in the passage EXCEPT the

(A) year in which data on occupations began to be analyzed by gender
(B) year in which specific information began to be collected on individuals in addition to the head of the household
(C) year in which overlap between women employed outside the home and women keeping house was first calculated
(D) way in which the 1890 census measured women’s income levels and educational backgrounds
(E) way in which household members were counted in the 1840 census

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the 1840 United States census provided a count of which of the following?

(A) Women who worked exclusively in the home
(B) People engaged in nonfarming occupations
(C) People engaged in social movements
(D) Women engaged in family-run enterprises
(E) Men engaged in agriculture

4 
 4. The author uses the adjective “ simple ” in line 5 most probably to emphasize that the

(A) collection of census information became progressively more difficult throughout the nineteenth-century
(B) technology for tabulating census information was rudimentary during the first half of the nineteenth century
(C) home-based agricultural economy of the early nineteenth century was easier to analyze than the later industrial economy
(D) economic role of women was better defined in the early nineteenth century than in the late nineteenth century
(E) information collected by early-nineteen-century censuses was limited in its amount of detail

5 
 5. The passage suggests which of the following about the “ women’s advocates and women statisticians ” mentioned in lines 27-28?

(A) They wanted to call attention to the lack of pay for women who worked in the home.
(B) They believed that previous census information was inadequate and did not reflect certain economic changes in the United States.
(C) They had begun to press for changes in census-taking methods as part of their participation in the antislavery movement.
(D) They thought that census statistics about women would be more accurate if more women were employed as census officials.
(E) They had conducted independent studies that disputed the official statistics provided by previous United States censuses.]

tronghieu1987 · Accepted Answer

I am happy to give my 2 cents on this question. At first I also marked E as the correct answer, but researching more on the 1st paragraph, I found B is the correct answer.

Note that the paragraph says the head of the household (usually male) was specified by name , and other members were indicated by  total number of persons  counted in occupational categories. Therefore, we could infer 2 points:

- We don't know the total number of men (or women), just the name of the head of household; -> E is incorrect.
- We do know the total number of people in occupational categories (farming, non-farming, etc.) -> B is correct.

Please feel free to correct me!

Carcass · Answer

The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) explain and critique the methods used by early statisticians

There is  NOTHING  that critique the method used for the census. Infact, there is a chronological excursus from X to Y, from a date throughout an evollution to another date. In othe words: a chronological history

(B) compare and contrast a historical situation with a current-day one

No comparison

(C) describe and explain a historical change

Right choice. Look , for instance, at the first phrase of the second paragraph : T he 1850 census, partly responding to antislavery and women’s rights movements, initiated the collection of specific information about each individual in a household. Not until 1870 was occupational information analyzed by gender  . A clearly indication of a change. Chronologically

(D) discuss historical opposition to an established institution

No opposition

(E) trace the origin of a contemporary controversy

No clues about this controversy

Hope this helps

Lucky2783 · Answer

It can be inferred from the passage that the 1840 United States census provided a count of which of the following?

(A) Women who worked exclusively in the home
(B) People engaged in nonfarming occupations
(C) People engaged in social movements
(D) Women engaged in family-run enterprises
(E) Men engaged in agriculture.

How come B , could someone please explain . 
i see E as a clear winner . 
no ?

Skywalker18 · Answer

Interesting passage . Took 7 mins 50 seconds , including 2 mins to read the passage . 
- The author talks about a census taking method in the 1840’s 
- He then goes on to describe the changes in the method

1. I was successfully able to narrow down to A and C , but was not sure about the final answer 
(A) Incorrect – The author of the passage does not state any opinion. A Critique is an opinion. Hence Incorrect.
(C) Correct

2. D – The passage merely states that the 1890’s census measured women’s income levels and educational backgrounds. But, there is no mention of the way in which this was done.

3.B- People engaged in non farming occupations

4. E - information collected by early-nineteen-century censuses was limited in its amount of detail

5. This is more of an inference question and the answer to it lies in the interpretation of Paragraph 2 
End of second paragraph talk about Women’s Advocates pressing for more thorough and accurate counting of women’s occupations and wages. This goes to say that the previous census information did not provide an adequate reflection of the economic changes in the United States. 
Hence – Option (B).

minhaz3333 · Answer

Q3 - I will help here in understanding why option B is a correct inference about counting in 1840.

Excerpt to be focused - 
Through 1840, simple enumeration by household mirrored a home-based agricultural economy and hierarchical social order: the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas  other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational categories.

well , It says that  the other members (other than the head(male)) of a household were also counted in various categories , including  occupational categories (farming/non-farming) 
The only reason why male (head of the household) is mentioned is to specify the name (of the Household).

Eg - Johnson's (total members - 5 , 2 working as farmers , 1 work somewhere else, etc.)

I hope it helps.

aragonn · Answer

P1 - US census report for women occupations. 1840, how it works?
P2 - 1850 change in census; 1870 1.8 mil women employed ; 1890 industrialization; new occupations and wages.

Main idea - Evolution of census report wrt women occupations.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) explain and critique the methods used by early statisticians --- no critique
(B) compare and contrast a historical situation with a current-day one --- no compare
(C) describe and explain a historical change --- right on track.
(D) discuss historical opposition to an established institution --- miles away from reality.
(E) trace the origin of a contemporary controversy --- no controversy
-------------------------------------------

2. Each of the following aspects of nineteenth-century United States censuses is mentioned in the passage EXCEPT the

(A) year in which data on occupations began to be analyzed by gender - 1870
(B) year in which specific information began to be collected on individuals in addition to the head of the household - 1840
(C) year in which overlap between women employed outside the home and women keeping house was first calculated - 1870
(D) way in which the 1890 census measured women’s income levels and educational backgrounds - answer.
(E) way in which household members were counted in the 1840 census - P1

-------------------------------------------

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the 1840 United States census provided a count of which of the following?
Pre-thinking - report give name of head of family + total number of persons counted in various categories

(A) Women who worked exclusively in the home - no
(B) People engaged in nonfarming occupations - yes, correct.
(C) People engaged in social movements - not even mentioned.
(D) Women engaged in family-run enterprises - not exclusively mentioned
(E) Men engaged in agriculture - not exclusively mentioned, but head is named others are in count colum.

-------------------------------------------
4. The author uses the adjective “simple” in line 5 most probably to emphasize that the
just number is collected for rest of the people and nothing more. so format was very simple. Only E is describing it correctly.

(E) information collected by early-nineteen-century censuses was limited in its amount of detail

-------------------------------------------
5. The passage suggests which of the following about the “women’s advocates and women statisticians” mentioned in lines 27-28?

lines to look for - when the rapid entry of women into the paid labor force and social issues arising from industrialization were causing women's advocates and women statisticians to press for more thorough and accurate accounting of women's occupations and wages.

(B) They believed that previous census information was inadequate and did not reflect certain economic changes in the United States.

ShukhratJon · Answer

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the 1840 United States census provided a count of which of the following?

(A) Women who worked exclusively in the home
(B) People engaged in nonfarming occupations
(C) People engaged in social movements
(D) Women engaged in family-run enterprises
(E) Men engaged in agriculture

This is an inference question, so we should indentify the piece of information the passage is delivering indirectly. The question asks what was counted during 1980 year census. The passage says that household’s head, male, was specified by name, despite being present or absent. Other family members, male or female, were categorized by their occupations, not by their names or genders. So the number of women and men in families was not counted. Only occupational categories, they were involved in, were indicated. It may look the following way:

Household №32 – Grey’s (in total 5 members, 3 in farming, 2 in mining (or other nonfarming economic activities))

Like farms, most enterprises were family-run, so that   – this part says that apart from farms (agriculture) there were other enterprises (nonfarming). Thus the 1840 census counted people both in farming and nongaming activities, not specifying their genders or names. That’s what B actually is saying here. Because census didn’t count the number of men E is incorrect.

please, put kudos if this helped!

ShukhratJon · Answer

5. The passage suggests which of the following about the “  women’s advocates and women statisticians  ” mentioned in lines 27-28?

(A) They wanted to call attention to the lack of pay for women who worked in the home.
(B) They believed that previous census information was inadequate and did not reflect certain economic changes in the United States.
(C) They had begun to press for changes in census-taking methods as part of their participation in the antislavery movement.
(D) They thought that census statistics about women would be more accurate if more women were employed as census officials.
(E) They had conducted independent studies that disputed the official statistics provided by previous United States censuses.

This one is Inference type question. What we can learn about “women’s advocates and women statisticians” from the passage is that from 1890 they began to have more thorough censuses because changes happening to labor force and industrialization (e.g. occupation type by gender, women employment outside the home) had not been reflected in former censuses. Thus we can infer that, those advocates and statisticians began to dig deeper because they believed that former censuses were inadequate. That is what B talks about. Although initially I didn’t like B since “they believed” sounded as an assumption, the absurdity of other choices makes it soundest one.

dcummins · Answer

Passage Map: Overall the passage describes changes to the collection of data via censu over time, and specifically how collection of data on women changed in response to social changes
P1: To describe what was collected in initial census' and define frequency of the census
P2: To describe latter census collections and how data about women became more specified

Question 3
In the last sentence of the first paragraph "most enterprises" are compared to "farms" ("like farms,....). This delineates between farms and other businesses. In addition, via this comparison, we are only told that businesses were family run.
A is incorrect because its not stated or inferred anywhere
B is broad, but correct because farms are compared to "most enterprises" (run by families) allowing us to infer that some people in other businesses that weren't farms.
C is incorrect because its not stated anywhere, nor inferred
D is incorrect because we are told that the 1840 census does not go down to this level of granularity in data
E is incorrect because we aren't told specifically the role each gender played. From the 1840 census an inference is made about the roles played by families in business

Question 4
The simple remuneration described insinuate that the deductions made were relatively easy via the use of numbers.
A is incorrect as this is not stated at all. In fact it is inferred that things got easier
B is incorrect because no 'technology' is mentioned. The physical/ technological methods of collection aren't described at all in the passage.
C is lured me, but its incorrect for two reasons: (1) enumeration by household led to deductions about both home-based ag. economy AND hierarchial social order; (2) the impact of the industralisation on statistics isnt discussed; instead, we 'industralisation' is used to refer to the social changes that prompted Women's advocates and staticians to demand more granular data.
D is incorrect because we know the opposite to be true. More granular data was collected over time.
E is correct. Enumeration (without knowing the actual textbook definition) stuck out to me as the tabulation or calculation of information. The fact this was the process by which census data was collected, and that it was "simple, leads me to conclude that it was also limited. In addition, the 1840s census is discussed to establish a point of reference for how each census, per decade, changed in the data collected.

hmayank83 · Answer

The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) explain and critique the methods used by early statisticians.
 The author does not critique the methods. 
(B) compare and contrast a historical situation with a current-day one
 There is no comparison or contrast 
(C) describe and explain a historical change
  The passage does describe how the methodology of taking census evolved over time 
(D) discuss historical opposition to an established institution
 There is no mention about opposition to any established institution 
(E) trace the origin of a contemporary controversy
 There is no controversy mentioned in the passage.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma  - while I do agree for question 3 - A/C/D and E are wrong - i also thought B was wrong

Isn't B wrong because the word " people " in option B will also have to reflect males  who are the head of the household  ?

We do not know what occupation the  head of the household (male)  is involved in per my understanding.

All we know per the 1840 census is w.r.t to  head of the household  is 
- what is his name is 
- whether he is present or absent in the household 
- we know the occupation of  OTHER  household members (we dont know what the  head of the household does )

Given we DONT know what the head of the household does (agriculture or enterprise) -- how can we count " PEOPLE " involved in nonfarming occupations as many heads of households could also be involved in nonfarming occupations

KarishmaB · Answer

Given: the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational categories.

The occupation categories included total persons (including head of the household)
But name of only the head of the household was collected.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma  -  various categories, including occupational categories.  is referring to  OTHER  household members and NOT to the  head of the household  per my analyis of the sentence in the image below.

Analogy:  
 the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by their   caste  .  = In a sentence like this -- the   Caste   categorization would refer only to  OTHER  household members and not to the  head of the household.

Same logic here

various categories, including occupational categories  only refers to  OTHER  household members.

Thoughts on how to re-concile ?

KarishmaB · Answer

That is incorrect comprehension.

"Total number in each category" will include total number. Hence it has to include information about the head too. 
The head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories (including occupational categories).

So info on a household could look like this:

Head: Jiminy Cricket 
Total members farming: 4
Total members not working: 0
Total members above age 12 yrs: 3

So this means there are 4 people in the family, all of who are farmers (including the head of the household).
This also tells us that there is one child below 12 who is working at the farm. 
So other household members are only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories. Their names are not given.

This is what the passage explains.

Vatsal7794 · Answer

Hi Experts, Thanks for always helping me

GMATNinja   VeritasKarishma   EducationAisle   ChrisLele   mikemcgarry   AjiteshArun   egmat   sayantanc2k   RonPurewal   DmitryFarber   MagooshExpert   avigutman   EMPOWERgmatVerbal  other experts

Please have a look at the below questions-

Que 1)Can someone please help me in understanding below Sentences

"simple enumeration by household mirrored a home-based agricultural economy and hierarchical social order: the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational categories. Like farms, most enterprises were family-run, so that the census measured economic activity as an attribute of the entire household, rather than of individuals"

My understanding is that - "The listing by household was same as the listing of HBA & HSO. And then it is describing how the listing was done.

What I didn't understood is what was the flaw in this counting census.? Is it that the count was not including each and every member of the family?

Que 2)About Which two groups is it talking about?
"Overlap between the two groups was not calculated until 1890"

Que 3) Don't know why but struggling with this passage and with question number 3.

Que 4) I didn't understood the each and everything of this passage but I knew the gist of the passage.
Because of which I got 4 answers correct.

So understanding each and every details in passage is not so important?

avigutman · Answer

Vatsal7794  In the very first sentence of the passage, the author sets the scene for us: 
 occupational information about women  that was provided by the United States census  became more detailed and precise  in response to social changes.
Does that context help you identify the flaw here?  the head of the household (presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational categories.

the census superintendent reported 1.8 million  women employed outside the home in "gainful and reputable occupations."  In addition, he arbitrarily attributed to each family  one woman "keeping house." 
So the overlap is when the woman "keeping house" is also employed outside the home.

household members were only indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including  occupational categories . 
Process of elimination is generally the way to go with inference questions. You can eliminate ADE based on just the first word: the 1840 census didn't differentiate between men and women. And the correct answer can be inferred thanks to the differentiation among  occupational categories  (farming is an occupational category).

Yes, we're better off not understanding  any  details in our initial read, but rather  why  those details are there - how they serve the author's purpose. Understanding the author's choice to include some detail does not require us to understand that detail.
Later, once we see what particular detail a question is asking about, we can go study that detail (and ignore all the others).
I demonstrated this in a YouTube Live event which you can view here, and I have another one coming up this Sunday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyd5onrqTgc

JaxHammer · Answer

Hi,

For Question 5, Although other options dont seem that sound, in option B, I feel like it encompasses too much than what passage says ie., from passage Women statisticians and advocates pressured because they wanted to get accurate data of  Women , whereas option B is kinda generalized in saying that 
here economic changes can be anything, passage gives info related to women but this option could mean anything, although this option is qualified by using word "certain" it still doesnt guarantee that its related to women

So, although our job is not to prove it(as question says "suggests"), should we just go ahead based on others being wrong and option is slightly more better? What do you guys think on this?  carcass   VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja

KarishmaB · Answer

It doesn't matter that the option provides the same data in more general terms. As long as it stays true, it is acceptable.

For example, say a passage tells us that the reporter believes that Jack was wronged. 
Now a question could ask us this: "What does the passage suggest about the reporter?"
The correct option could be this: The reporter believes that a person was wronged.

If the reporter believes that Jack was wronged, he certainly belies that a person was wronged. Even if we haven't included all the details available, this level of detail is true nevertheless.

In case it were the other way around, then it would not work. 
For example, say a passage tells us that the reporter believes that a person was wronged. 
Now a question could ask us this: "What does the passage suggest about the reporter?"
An option could be this: The reporter believes that Jack was wronged. 
This option would not be correct. It gives more details than the passage. We don't know whether this extra detail is true or not.

Similarly, we know what "certain economic changes" are but that doesn't make using this general term incorrect.
 JaxHammer

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 5 
 
The question asks us what the passage suggests about "women's advocates and women statisticians."

In the second paragraph, we learn that "the rapid entry of women into the paid labor force and social issues arising from industrialization" caused these advocates/statisticians to press for better data.

So, the passage suggests that the advocates/statisticians "believed that previous census information was inadequate and did not reflect certain economic changes in the United States," as stated in (B).

There's no requirement for the language in an answer choice to reach a certain degree of specificity. If the passage suggests something, then that's the right answer even if the exact words don't match. And, as you've said, all of the other answer choices are definitely NOT suggested by the passage, so you're left with (B).

I hope that helps a bit!

During the nineteenth century, occupational information about women

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During the nineteenth century, occupational information about women

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