Choose the letter of the primary purpose of each of the following passages.

Question

In the past three decades, the percentage of married women with children in the labor force has increased dramatically. The working mother is now the norm. What is the effect of maternal employment on child development?
When psychologists compare children of employed mothers with children of women who remain at
home, few differences emerge on measures of cognitive achievement and socioemotional development, at least among middle-class participants. If anything, daughters of employed mothers derive some benefit; they are likely to show greater independence, greater achievement, and higher self-esteem than daughters of nonworking mothers. Apparently these girls profit from having a successful, competent role model, at least as the larger society recognizes these qualities. (Women who remain at home “work” too, but traditionally have not been afforded recognition or status for that role.) When a mother returns to work seems not to be an important factor. In an analysis of data collected from several thousand participants in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Elizabeth Harvey found that the timing of mother’s entry or return to the work force was not associated with children’s development. The number of hours mothers work can make a difference, however. Two recent studies of mostly Caucasian middle-class women found that the more hours mothers worked, the lower was the academic achievement of their preschool and early school-age children. On the other hand, comprehensive longitudinal1 studies of children from infancy through age twelve have found that although academic achievement was negatively related to the number of hours the mothers worked when children were ages five and six, this relationship was modest and was not apparent as children grew older.

In this passage, the author’s primary purpose is to
a. entertain.
b. inform.
c. persuade.

Answer 1

c. persuade.