Traditional social science models of class groups in the United States

Passage breakdown

In passages that are one long paragraph, it can be helpful to split the passage up. In this explanation, the passage will be split into three sections:

• Section 1: from the start to “with women outside it.”
• Section 2: from “Some feminist social scientists, by contrast,” to “...none could own property or vote.”
• Section 3: from “Recently, though, other feminist analysts…” to the end of the passage.

In the first section, the author introduces a traditional view:

• The division of society is based on class.

In the second section, the author introduces a view that opposes the traditional model:

• The division of society is based on gender.

In the third section, the author introduces a view that questions BOTH previous views:

• This new view holds that there are divisions along gender lines AND along class lines.

For more on the process of breaking down RC passages, check out this article and our live RC videos.

Explanations for individual questions

• Question 1
• Question 2
• Question 3

Time taken - 6 mins

1.C
2.D
3.A (feminist social scientists argued that the basic division in American society is instead based on gender and not on the economic status as described by the Traditional social science models )
Option E - seems to suggest a similarity
Hope anyone can clear this.

I have noticed that you often complete passages within a short amount of time with high accuracy. What is your strategy?
Thanks.

why D ??


2. It can be inferred from the passage that the most recent feminist social science research on women and class seeks to do which of the following?
A. Introduce a divergent new theory about the relationship between legal status and gender
B. Illustrate an implicit middle-class bias in earlier feminist models of class and gender
C. Provide evidence for the position that gender matters more than wealth in determining class status
D. Remedy perceived inadequacies of both traditional social science models and earlier feminist analyses of class and gender
E. Challenge the economic definitions of class used by traditional social scientists

Took 6 mins 10 seconds , including 2 mins 20 seconds to read
-The author does not state an opinion
- The author merely states that there have been multiple views held by social scientists

1 .Since the author provides 3 different views, he clearly wants to express the differing opinions on women’s class status held by social scientists. Hence option C is the correct answer.

2.
"Recently, though, other feminist analysts have questioned this model, examining ways in which the condition of working-class women differs from that of middle-class women as well as from that of working-class men."

Since the latest feminist social science research changes the view on women’s relationship with other women as well as men, we could infer that this research rectifies the 2 earlier research models.

Answer D

3.
"Some feminist social scientists, by contrast, have argued that the basic division in American society is instead based on gender"
Answer A

Please explain Q2 in detail. I chose B as my answer. I cannot figure out what makes D correct.

took around 7 mins.

got 1 wrong...can someone pls explain 2nd to me?

Bob2018, I didn't address every answer choice in detail, but there's a fairly long explanation of question #2 here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmatprep-cha ... l#p1959414. Let me know if that doesn't clear things up.

Q1 I got confused between C and D can u explain Why D is wrong and C is correct.

Q3) How do eliminate 2nd answer choice i.e " The traditional social science model of class differs from Ryan's in its assumption that women are financially dependent on men."

Question 1

Question #1 asks us to determine the primary purpose of the passage. To do that, let's take a look at the passage's structure:

• First, the author introduces "traditional social science models of class groups."
• Then, the author examines the views of certain "feminist social scientists," which are contrasted with the traditional models.
• Finally, the author examines the views of "other feminist analysts," which differ from both the traditional models and previously discussed feminist views.

Let's first look at (D):
There are a couple of problems with this answer choice -- first, the author does not "propose" a feminist interpretation -- he/she describes two different feminist interpretations of class structure. More importantly, the primary purpose of the passage is not just to propose a certain feminist interpretation, but rather to contrast several different perspectives on class structure. (D) is too narrow in scope, so it is not the correct answer.

Take a look at answer choice (C):
This accurately captures the primary purpose of the passage. The author first introduces the traditional model of class groups, then provides two differing views from a feminist perspective on the issue. From this, we can gather that the primary purpose of the passage is to "consider differing views held by social scientists concerning women's class status in the United States." (C) is the correct answer to question #1.

Question 3

Now let's look at question #3:
Here is what the passage says about "traditional social science models of class":
The conclusion reached by social scientists applying "traditional models of class" is that "women... have more compelling common interest with men of their own economic class than with women outside it."

The reason behind this conclusion is that "women's economic status derives from association with men, typically fathers or husbands."

Here is what the passage says about Mary Ryan's findings:
Ryan's conclusion is that "the identical legal status of working-class and middle-class free women outweighed the differences between women of these two classes."

The main contrast between these two viewpoints is as follows:

• Traditional models: show that economic status is more important than gender when examining divisions in society
• Mary Ryan: believes that gender is more important than economic status when examining divisions in society

Now look at (B):
The traditional models described in the passage do make the assumption that "women's economic status derives from association with men." But, is this a difference between the traditional models and Ryan's argument?

Ryan does not specifically disagree with the notion that women are financially dependent on men. She just believes that gender is a more important factor than economic status when examining class in society.

Because the two models do not differ on this point, (B) is not the correct answer.

I hope that helps!

Hi bb - why is it that in some questions post answering it the correct answer blinks while we also get to know that we selected the wrong answer(refer pic) however in many (lot many) questions such an option is not displayed and hence post answering it I would never get to know which option did I select.
abhimahna

Thank you! Can you please provide an example of the latter case?

abhimahna, I too have been experiencing this problem: looks like the timer got stuck often (same as what aggvipul described -- the answer choice just blinks and my answer doesn't get stored). I had to refresh the page then try again (it always works after page refresh). Tried Firefox, Chrome, and Android app -- all have this problem.

Thank you, I will look into it. Added it to the queue and I will reach out if I need more information. Cheers!

Thank YOU!!! The timer, along with the error log, is such an amazing function, making gmatclub an essential part of my prep.

One possible reason of this issue could be your internet connection, You clicked on the answer option and your internet was not connected (even for a few seconds) the timer will keep blinking without showing the stats.

Thanks, SajjadAhmad, for weighting in! A quick update, abhimahna: after I cleaned all the browser cache and history, the timer problem went away!
Not sure what's up with the Android App though, since there is no cache, isn't there?