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655-705 Level|   Long Passage|   Social Science|                                    
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 20 May 2022, 04:23
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mojorising800

Jon Clark’s study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange maintenance work and workers is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses two lively issues in the history and sociology of technology: technological determinism and social constructivism.
 
Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of a technological system is subordinate to the manager’s desire to wrest control of the labor process from the workers. Technological change is construed as the outcome of negotiations among interested parties who seek to incorporate their own interests into the design and configuration of the machinery. This position represents the new mainstream called social constructivism.
 
The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.
 
Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists by both theoretical and empirical arguments. Theoretically he defines “technology” in terms of relationships between social and technical variables. Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is just scrap unless it is organized functionally and supported by appropriate systems of operation and maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how a change at the telephone exchange from maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches to semielectronic switching systems altered work tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration, and organization of workers. Some changes Clark attributes to the particular way management and labor unions negotiated the introduction of the technology, whereas others are seen as arising from the capabilities and nature of the technology itself. Thus Clark helps answer the question: “When is social choice decisive and when are the concrete characteristics of technology more important?”
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Hi experts avigutman GMATNinja IanStewart

The third paragraph gave me a hard time--I cannot fully grasp the meaning in that paragraph, which provides correct answers for three questions. Although I have checked all previous posts in this thread, I still have some specific doubts. Could you share some of your thoughts when you have time? :)

My biggest doubt is: does the 3rd paragraph contain the misinterpretation only?

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.

My understanding of the use of colon is that the colon is usually followed by an explanation of some point made prior to the colon. Hence, the two statements after the colon should both explain how the constructivists misrepresent the technology determinism. But, I feel that the first statement, colored in blue, is not part of the misinterpretation for three reasons:

a. "appropriate" is a positive word.
->If the first statement is part of the misinterpretation, it reads "Constructivists think that the determinists believe that machinery imposes appropriate forms of orders on society." It is strange that constructivists use a word so approving in their description of their competitors' belief, especially given that the author says the constructivists gain acceptance by distorting their rivals' claims.

b. the use of "alternative"
->The use of "alternative" increases the difficulty. The word "alternative," used as a noun, primarily means "another choice," as in "an alternative to coffee," but here "the alternative to constructivism" does not mean "another theory different from constructivism," does it? It seems to me that the phrasing means "another way to interpret the technology determinism for the constructivists."

c. The first statement is against the second statement.
->We are sure that the second statement, colored in orange, is part of the constructivists' misinterpretation of the technology determinism, as shown by the correct answer to the 4th question. (The official explanation also clearly says that the second statement is part of the misinterpretation.)

Quote:

4. The information in the passage suggests that which of the following statements from hypothetical sociological studies of change in industry most clearly exemplifies the social constructivists’ version of technological determinism?

(A) It is the available technology that determines workers’ skills, rather than workers’ skills influencing the application of technology. -> correct
Show more

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.

If the two statements, colored in blue and orange, are both the constructivists' wrong interpretation of technology determinism, is not it weird that they are against each other? These constructivists say on one hand that the determinists think that the machines does something appropriate on the society, but mention on the other hand that the determinists also think that the technology exist outside society?

*
Hence, I suspect that the first statement might be the author's opinion of technology determinism. The author first tells us a view the determinists really hold, and show later that the constructivists have misinterpreted that the determinists hold another view (that the technology exists outside the society.)

But I am not fully certain about my understanding, since (1) no one in this thread reads the paragraph this way yet, (2) there will be no need to use a colon. If the author were to say what the determinists really believe first, in a bid to show that the constructivists do misrepresent the idea, the author can just use the period instead of the colon.

Two more questions are related to the third paragraph, and I answered them correctly. But I still hope to confirm the meaning of the third paragraph.

Quote:

6. According to the passage, constructivists employed which of the following to promote their argument?

(D) Contrasts of their view with a misstatement of an opposing view ->correct
Show more
In fact, I am not sure from the 3rd paragraph whether the constructivists contrasts two views, but other options are less realistic.

Quote:

7. The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in line 27 primarily in order to

(A) suggest that a contention made by constructivists regarding determinists is inaccurate ->correct
Show more
I think that the "contention" in option (A) could refer to the second statement (technology exist outside the society.)

Experts how do you think about the third paragraph?
If you do think that the third paragraph contains only the misinterpretation, could you elaborate why? And does the phrasing "are supposed to" and "alternative" play a role in the meaning?

Appreciate your time!
Thank you for helping me learn. :)
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 20 May 2022, 17:24
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GraceSCKao

My biggest doubt is: does the 3rd paragraph contain the misinterpretation only?

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.
Show more
Hi GraceSCKao. Excellent question. Firstly, misinterpreting and misrepresenting are two very different things, and I wonder whether your difficulty with this passage stems, at least in part, from interpreting (pun intended) the word 'misrepresenting' as 'misinterpreting'.
When we say that someone misinterpreted something, the implication is that it was an honest mistake.
When we say that someone misrepresented something, the implication is that this person has violated our trust, and deliberately perpetrated a scam of some kind.
It's like the difference between involuntary manslaughter and first degree murder.

GraceSCKao
My understanding of the use of colon is that the colon is usually followed by an explanation of some point made prior to the colon. Hence, the two statements after the colon should both explain how the constructivists misrepresent the technology determinism.
Show more
Correct.

GraceSCKao
But, I feel that the first statement, colored in blue, is not part of the misinterpretation for three reasons:

a. "appropriate" is a positive word.
->If the first statement is part of the misinterpretation, it reads "Constructivists think that the determinists believe that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society." It is strange that constructivists use a word so approving in their description of their competitors' belief, especially given that the author says the constructivists gain acceptance by distorting their rivals' claims.
Show more
Yes, it is strange. That said, the verb "imposes" is a negative word, so maybe that's the emphasis? I don't know enough about the subject matter to be sure, but the nice thing about RC is that I should nevertheless be able to answer all the questions as long as I get the general point. More importantly, note the words "in other words" in the sentence after the one with the colon. These words imply two important things: 1. The two sentences have the same role. 2. the first sentence requires further explanation (in the author's opinion).

GraceSCKao
b. the use of "alternative"
->The use of "alternative" increases the difficulty. The word "alternative," used as a noun, primarily means "another choice," as in "an alternative to coffee," but here "the alternative to constructivism" does not mean "another theory different from constructivism," does it? It seems to me that the phrasing means "another way to interpret the technology determinism for the constructivists."
Show more
There's an important difference between "an alternative" and "the alternative". Using the article "the" in front of "alternative" implies a binary choice.

GraceSCKao
c. The first statement is against the second statement.
These constructivists say on one hand that the determinists think that the machines does something appropriate on the society, but mention on the other hand that the determinists also think that the technology exist outside society?
Show more
Actually, the idea here (I believe) is that in order to be able to impose forms of order on society, you have to exist outside of society. Perhaps an appropriate analogy here is that the zookeeper can impose forms of order on the animals in the zoo. He or she is able to do so because he or she exists outside of the zoo; an animal from within the zoo would not be able to impose forms of order on the animals in the zoo.

GraceSCKao
Two more questions are related to the third paragraph, and I answered them correctly. But I still hope to confirm the meaning of the third paragraph.
Show more
Given my responses above, do these last two questions still require my attention?
GraceSCKao

Quote:

6. According to the passage, constructivists employed which of the following to promote their argument?

(D) Contrasts of their view with a misstatement of an opposing view ->correct
In fact, I am not sure from the 3rd paragraph whether the constructivists contrasts two views, but other options are less realistic.

Quote:

7. The author of the passage uses the expression “are supposed to” in line 27 primarily in order to

(A) suggest that a contention made by constructivists regarding determinists is inaccurate ->correct
I think that the "contention" in option (A) could refer to the second statement (technology exist outside the society.)

Experts how do you think about the third paragraph?
If you do think that the third paragraph contains only the misinterpretation, could you elaborate why? And does the phrasing "are supposed to" and "alternative" play a role in the meaning?
Show more
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 25 Jun 2022, 14:17
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akt715
The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society.

I didn't understand what the above lines are saying . Is it the actual view of technological determinists or is it misinterpreted view of technological determinists (view of the constructivists)
Here, the author tells us that the constructivists misrepresent the views of technological determinists. So, this sentence doesn't give us the actual viewpoint of determinists -- it gives us the distorted way in which constructivists describe the views of their opponents.

Constructivists say that determinists hold the extreme belief that "machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society." In the last paragraph, we see Clark's response to this claim -- he doesn't actually hold that view at all.

I hope that helps!
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GMATNinja,
I am still a bit confused on the meaning behind paragraph 3. Does the "in other words" part simply rephrase "machinery imposes appropriate forms on order of society"?

My second question pertains to question 587 ("The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?"). I am confused as to how we can draw "social change" from lines 9-11. From my understanding, these lines just say tech can determine social and managerial organization. Drawing "social change" from that seems like a far stretch?

Thank you so much in advance!

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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 26 Jun 2022, 04:35
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woohoo921
Does the "in other words" part simply rephrase "machinery imposes appropriate forms on order of society"?
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Not exactly. I would say that the role of "in other words" here is to elevate the level of analysis to a bigger picture perspective, so it's more of an inference than a rephrase. Analogy:
James gets custody of the children by misrepresenting his wife's financial situation: she is supposed to be, for example, losing her home. The alternative to giving James custody, in other words, is to let the children live on the street.
Letting the children live on the street isn't exactly a rephrase of the mother losing her home.
woohoo921
My second question pertains to question 587 ("The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?"). I am confused as to how we can draw "social change" from lines 9-11. From my understanding, these lines just say tech can determine social and managerial organization. Drawing "social change" from that seems like a far stretch?
Show more
It seems to me, woohoo921, that the relevant text for this question is the following:
Quote:
Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion
Show more
I boldfaced the word "obscured" because that seems to be the crux of what Clark believes is the impact of social constructivism gaining widespread acceptance. So, Clark believes "this possibility" has been obscured. What possibility, exactly?
the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization
So, we're looking for an answer choice that shows what might have happened had this possibility not been obscured.
Now, woohoo921, you're asking how we can go from tech can determine social and managerial organization to technology producing social change?
Well, yes, if something can determine social organization... then it can produce social change. If you can determine how something is organized, then you can change the way that it is organized.
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 26 Jun 2022, 07:44
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woohoo921
Does the "in other words" part simply rephrase "machinery imposes appropriate forms on order of society"?
Not exactly. I would say that the role of "in other words" here is to elevate the level of analysis to a bigger picture perspective, so it's more of an inference than a rephrase. Analogy:
James gets custody of the children by misrepresenting his wife's financial situation: she is supposed to be, for example, losing her home. The alternative to giving James custody, in other words, is to let the children live on the street.
Letting the children live on the street isn't exactly a rephrase of the mother losing her home.
woohoo921
My second question pertains to question 587 ("The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?"). I am confused as to how we can draw "social change" from lines 9-11. From my understanding, these lines just say tech can determine social and managerial organization. Drawing "social change" from that seems like a far stretch?
It seems to me, woohoo921, that the relevant text for this question is the following:
Quote:
Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion
I boldfaced the word "obscured" because that seems to be the crux of what Clark believes is the impact of social constructivism gaining widespread acceptance. So, Clark believes "this possibility" has been obscured. What possibility, exactly?
the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization
So, we're looking for an answer choice that shows what might have happened had this possibility not been obscured.
Now, woohoo921, you're asking how we can go from tech can determine social and managerial organization to technology producing social change?
Well, yes, if something can determine social organization... then it can produce social change. If you can determine how something is organized, then you can change the way that it is organized.
Show more

avigutman
Thank you so much! You are the best!

I have one more follow-up question, why does the author put "technological determinists are supposed to believe" after the colon? I realize that this is discussed above, but is this the constructivists saying, "technological determinists are supposed to believe"?

Thank you again.
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 26 Jun 2022, 11:56
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woohoo921
I have one more follow-up question, why does the author put "technological determinists are supposed to believe" after the colon? I realize that this is discussed above, but is this the constructivists saying, "technological determinists are supposed to believe”
Show more
It’s an example of how the constructivists misrepresent technological determinism, woohoo921.
So, the constructivists are saying “technological determinists believe.”
The author is saying “are supposed to” in order to show us that the technological determinists DON’T truly believe - the constructivists are using trickery to make us think that the determinists believe.

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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 22 Aug 2022, 14:12
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Hello Experts,
Found this passage really dense and very difficult to comprehend.
Got 3/8.. Can you all please give some tips on how to tackle with such long and "difficult to understand" passages?
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 24 Aug 2022, 13:36
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yaygmat
Can you all please give some tips on how to tackle with such long and "difficult to understand" passages?
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The essential underlying principles of RC don't significantly vary with differences in the content, so, mostly this will come down to developing a more solid understanding of how GMAT RC problems (and their answer choices) work in general.

One insight that you may find helpful here, though, is that you can usually ascertain main ideas from statements that are made in more general terms, WITHOUT highly technical language. You'll almost certainly find these statements far easier to comprehend than technical-jargon-filled statements of more specific facts.



In this passage, for instance, the following statements (broken down paragraph by paragraph) are definitely good enough to determine the main idea:

Jon Clark’s study ... is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses ... technological determinism and social constructivism.
—> These are the two sides of the debate here

Clark believes ... has been obscured by ... [the idea] exemplified by Braverman’s analysis. ...
This position represents ... social constructivism.
—> So Clark is OPPOSED to "social constructivism"

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism...
—> "Social constructivism" is basically lies, then

Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists. ...
—> Clark says NO to social constructivism (and therefore YES to technological determinism)



Note just how little understanding of the technical details is necessary to determine the main idea. That's not an isolated feature of this passage—you should find that the same is true across the GMAT RC section, ESPECIALLY for passages with unusual amounts of highly technical detail. The more technical and complicated the details are, the LESS important it will be for you to fully 'get' them!
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P2 : Clark believes ... has been obscured by ... [the idea] exemplified by Braverman’s analysis. ...
This position represents ... social constructivism.
—> So Clark is OPPOSED to "social constructivism"

Show more

Hi RonTargetTestPrep - From Para 2 - I dont understand how you believe "Clark is OPPOSED to "social constructivism"

Could you assist?

All I understood form para 2 is :
(a) There is a new kind of "social constructivism"
(b) We dont know as of para 2 if John Clark is in favor of this new "social constructivism"

RonTargetTestPrep

P3: The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism...
—> "Social constructivism" is basically lies, then
Show more
I dont see how one can say the "New Social constructivism" is basically lies

P3, all i can gather is
(a) "New Social constructivism" lies about Technological determinism
(b) Rest of the para is about how "Social constructivism" lies about Technological determinism
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Hi RonTargetTestPrep - From Para 2 - I dont understand how you believe "Clark is OPPOSED to "social constructivism"

Could you assist?
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Sure.

Express summary of the first three sentences of ¶2:
• Clark makes a point. (So this is definitely something that Clark believes/accepts.)
• Here's a stronger statement of the same point.
• But there's a new, 'fashionable' idea—stated by Braverman—that's currently OBSCURING that point.

At this point we know that, according to Clark, a newfangled 'fashion' of an idea (this is not a compliment! Calling an academic idea a 'fashion' pretty clearly implies that it's an unserious idea that'll fade away soon enough....) is distracting attention away from HIS point ("obscuring" his point).

It's quite clear that Clark does not hold a favorable opinion of the idea propounded by Braverman.


(Even if you didn't pick up this negative judgment here, you'll definitely get it once you reach ¶4, in which it's explicitly stated that Clark REFUTES the idea put forward by constructivists (Braverman's crowd).



Quote:
RonTargetTestPrep

P3: The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism...
—> "Social constructivism" is basically lies, then
I dont see how one can say the "New Social constructivism" is basically lies

P3, all i can gather is
(a) "New Social constructivism" lies about Technological determinism
(b) Rest of the para is about how "Social constructivism" lies about Technological determinism
Show more

From the red stuff, it looks as though you've figured out that the presentation here is "social constructivism = lies"... that's literally the content of both of those statements!
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Hi, could an expert please point me to a material, an app or a website where I can get comfortable with this sort of language? This passage pretty much blew me away and I had to spend a lot of time (not looking at the timer) just to understand what the author meant. I appreciate that I need to work on my weakness but I normally don't find this sort of condensed language and information in normal newspapers and articles I read on Economist etc. I would really appreciate a pointer to the material to read this sort of language and get comfortable. Thanks.
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 18 Sep 2022, 07:29
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Hi, could an expert please point me to a material, an app or a website where I can get comfortable with this sort of language? This passage pretty much blew me away and I had to spend a lot of time (not looking at the timer) just to understand what the author meant. I appreciate that I need to work on my weakness but I normally don't find this sort of condensed language and information in normal newspapers and articles I read on Economist etc. I would really appreciate a pointer to the material to read this sort of language and get comfortable. Thanks.
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If your main goal is to expose yourself to a greater volume of similar writing, you could search for academic journal articles in the same area of study:

• First, use a search to find the names of some journals.
E.g., this article is from business history, so, I might type business history journal into a search engine.

• Then, explore the sites of journals you find to see whether there are any free articles.
Most journal content, unfortunately, will be behind a paywall. However, it's common for journals to make a small number of articles available for free download.

One result of doing these steps here:
• The search above reveals that there's a journal called Business History.
• I went to that journal's site.
• I went through an article list. On the page that shows up first ("Issue 6"), two articles are available in full length online (you can also download them as PDFs):
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 17299?src=
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 20.1856076
From the next set, "Issue 5" (a link I clicked at the top of the page):
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 21.1919092
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 21.1918105

And so on.

I don't really know where you can go to consistently find articles that are short enough to be GMAT passages. You'll probably find that most articles—whether they're from academic journals (like the ones above) or from newspapers-of-record such as the NY Times—are much longer than GMAT passages. But, given your stated goal of raw exposure to more text of this kind, mismatched length shouldn't be any sort of real problem.
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I got 7/8 correct, but I just could not comprehend my understanding of Q4.

After almost reading the question 10 times, I am sure that the question is asking about "the option emphasizing the social constructivists' view".

And as per the passage, the constructivists believe "that the workers influence the technology or the technological change is the outcome of negotiations among interested parties.", whereas determinists believe that technology, an external factor, influences the workers' skill and organization.

Even in most of the explanations of the answers, B is written to be the social constructivists' view, but choice A is given to be the answer.

What am I really missing here? What is the question asking? Or is my understanding of the constructivists' view incorrect?
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Jon Clarks study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone ex 16 Oct 2025, 06:19
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suman94
I got 7/8 correct, but I just could not comprehend my understanding of Q4.

After almost reading the question 10 times, I am sure that the question is asking about "the option emphasizing the social constructivists' view".

And as per the passage, the constructivists believe "that the workers influence the technology or the technological change is the outcome of negotiations among interested parties.", whereas determinists believe that technology, an external factor, influences the workers' skill and organization.

Even in most of the explanations of the answers, B is written to be the social constructivists' view, but choice A is given to be the answer.

What am I really missing here? What is the question asking? Or is my understanding of the constructivists' view incorrect?
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suman94 you've actually understood both camps correctly, but there's a subtle trick in the question wording that's causing the confusion!

The Key Distinction You Missed:

Look carefully at what the question asks for:

"...most clearly exemplifies the social constructivists' version of technological determinism"

This is NOT asking for:
  • The social constructivists' view
  • The actual technological determinists' view

It's asking for: How social constructivists MISREPRESENT technological determinism

Think of it this way: "X's version of Y's view" means "how X portrays Y's view" (which may be a distortion).

Where the Passage Tells Us This:

Paragraph \(3\) explicitly states:

"The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society."

The passage is saying social constructivists create a strawman version of technological determinism – an extreme, oversimplified version that ignores any social factors.

Why Choice (A) is Correct:

(A) "It is the available technology that determines workers' skills, rather than workers' skills influencing the application of technology."

This presents technology as the sole determinant with zero social influence – exactly the extreme, one-dimensional view that constructivists falsely attribute to determinists.

Why Choice (B) is Wrong:

(B) "All progress in industrial technology grows out of a continuing negotiation between technological possibility and human need."

You're absolutely right that this describes the actual constructivist view! But that's not what the question asks for. The question asks for the misrepresented version of determinism, not the constructivist position itself.

Hope that addresses your doubt now? If you still feel any confusion, please feel free to reach out!
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