Question 133·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Information and Ideas
A database of nineteenth-century magazine articles shows that women contributors appeared under initial-only bylines more often than men contributors did. Some researchers interpret this difference as evidence that women generally chose initials to conceal their gender. Literary historian Anika Shah cautions, however, that the aggregate difference may reflect publication practices rather than contributors’ preferences: magazines followed different byline conventions, and women and men were not distributed evenly across magazines.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Shah’s argument?
For command-of-evidence questions involving competing explanations, translate each explanation into a distinct predicted pattern. Then select the finding that supports every necessary part of the stated argument, especially when the passage distinguishes aggregate results from results within subgroups.
Hints
Distinguish the levels of comparison
Consider the difference between a pattern across the entire database and a pattern within each individual magazine.
Translate the historian’s argument
Ask what the data should look like if magazines’ editorial conventions, rather than contributors’ preferences, produced the overall difference.
Check the complete pattern
The strongest evidence should address both within-magazine byline rates and how women’s and men’s articles were distributed across magazines.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the competing interpretations
The researchers attribute the aggregate gender difference to contributors’ choices. Shah instead proposes that magazines’ differing byline conventions, combined with the uneven distribution of women and men across magazines, could create that difference.
Determine the predicted evidence
Shah’s explanation predicts little or no gender difference within the same magazine but substantial differences across magazines. It also predicts that women’s articles will be more concentrated in magazines that frequently use initials.
Evaluate the findings
The correct finding provides both predicted patterns: women and men have nearly equal initial-only rates within individual magazines, while women are disproportionately represented in magazines with high overall rates. Thus, publication-level practices can account for the aggregate difference without requiring a general gender difference in contributor preference.