Michelene Pesantubbee, a historian and citizen of the Choctaw Nation, has identified a dilemma inherent to research on the status of women in her tribe during the 1600s and 1700s: the primary sources from that era, travel narratives and other accounts by male European colonizers, underestimate the degree of power conferred on Choctaw women by their traditional roles in political, civic, and ceremonial life. Pesantubbee argues that the Choctaw oral tradition and findings from archaeological sites in the tribe's homeland supplement the written record by providing crucial insights into those roles.

Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?

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Accepted Answer

It describes a problem that arises in research on a particular topic, then sketches a historian's approach to addressing that problem.

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It details the shortcomings of certain historical sources, then argues that research should avoid those sources altogether.

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It lists the advantages of a particular research method, then acknowledges a historian's criticism of that method.

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It characterizes a particular topic as especially challenging to research, then suggests a related topic for historians to pursue instead.