During the nineteenth century, occupational information about women ( Social Science)

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. 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. 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. 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. The author uses the adjective “simple” in line 6 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 nineteenth- 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 28-29?

(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.





Answers

(1) To determine the primary purpose, consider the passage as a whole. The first sentence explains that during the nineteenth century, occupational information about women in the U.S. census became more detailed and precise in response to social changes (lines 1-5). Following a chronological order, the rest of the passage shows how and why the information changed.

A The passage is more concerned with presenting information acquired from the census than with critiquing the methods used to obtain it.
B No comparison to a present-day census is made.
C Correct. The passage describes a change from 1840 to 1890 and gives reasons for this change.
D Lines 25-29 show that two groups pressed for greater accuracy, but that cannot be considered historical opposition since the groups did not oppose the census itself.
E No contemporary controversy is mentioned.

The correct answer is C.

(2) Use POE(process of elimination) to find the correct answer by checking the possible responses against the information mentioned in the passage. Skim the text to locate the necessary information; skimming for specific years is relatively easy because the years stand out visually from the rest of the text.

The correct answer is the one piece of information NOT included in the passage.

A Lines 19-20 indicate that it was 1870.
B Lines 16-19 indicate that it was 1850.
C Lines 25-26 indicate that it was 1890.
D Correct. The passage does not discuss income levels or educational background.
E Lines 5-12 explain that the 1840 census used simple enumeration of all household members.
The correct answer is D.

(3) Lines 5-15 state that the 1840 census counted the head of the household as an individual, and that it counted everyone else in the household by categories, including occupational categories. Thus it is reasonable to infer that the 1840 census provided an overall count of people engaged in occupations, both farming and nonfarming.

A Lines 24-29 reveal that a count of women who worked exclusively at home was not made until 1890.
B Correct. The 1840 census categorized household members by occupation, so it would have provided a count of people working in nonfarming occupations.
C The 1840 census counted households by occupations, not by participation in social movements.
D Lines 19-20 show that occupational categories were not analyzed by gender until 1870.
E Occupations were analyzed by gender only in 1870 (lines 19-20).

The correct answer is B.

(4) To crack questions like this read 2-3 lines above and below the use of the word "Simple" . What did you learn?

The first sentence says that census information became more detailed and precise during the nineteenth century.

The next sentence starts with the earliest census described in the passage, which used a method of simple enumeration.

The author uses simple to emphasize the contrast between the general, unspecified information on headcounts recorded in 1840 and the more detailed and precise information recorded later.

A The passage does not address the difficulty of collecting census information.
B The passage does not describe the technology for tabulating census information.
C The passage does not compare the ease of analyzing data.
D The use of simple does not call attention to the changes in women’s status recorded in the census.
E Correct. The author’s word choice emphasizes the lack of detail that characterized early nineteenth-century censuses.


The correct answer is E.

(5) This is an inference questions. How do you spot it?

Use of the word "suggests"

What do lines 28-29 say about women’s advocates and women
statisticians?
They were not satisfied with the previous census.

Why? 
Economic growth after the rapid entry of women into paid labor force were not reflected in the census

A Lines 25-29 cite the motives attributed to the two groups; lack of pay for women working at home is not included.
B Correct. They pressed for a more accurate, thorough census because they believed that previously collected information was inadequate and failed to reflect the economic changes wrought by women’s rapid entry into the paid labor force.
C The passage does not identify the women’s advocates and women statisticians in 1890 as participants in the antislavery movement, which is discussed in the context of the 1850 census.
D The passage does not show that they thought the greater accuracy they sought would be achieved with more women as census officials.
E No independent, statistical studies are mentioned in the passage.
The correct answer is B.

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