Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner takes on six different topics with an interesting type of thinking. Throughout the book the authors question what causes the variables of x and y. In this they go over if one causes the other or if they are just related and causes by another factor z. This brings to question many topics and goes deep into the analysis of what causes what and if there are hidden factors that people don’t see. To do this they use many sources of statistics to try and find an answer to the questions they have.
The first of which is how schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers are related. It then uses an analysis of student tests scores and sumo wrestlers match results to prove cases of cheating in each. Secondly …show more content…
In the book the authors tackle the issue of why drug dealers often live with their moms even though it is a stereotype they make large amounts of money. In order to find the answer to the question they needed statistics to analyze and luckily a Chicago University student made a crack dealing gang’s business records public. The student had spent large time with the gang trying to gain information on their lives, and was eventually given four years of records by a member when the gang was falling. The authors then used these statistics in the records to discover what the wages of the different positions in the gang by breaking down profits, positions salaries, and the number of people in each position. The author uses mathematics and the statistics presented in the records to find the amount each position made a month and then broke that down even per person then found thier hourly wage. This brought to light the gang branch leader made large profits while the next level down of officers made only 7 dollars and hour and the foot soldiers or dealers made only 3.30 an hour. This would demonstrate that the illusion of drug dealers making large salaries is only see in the high up members of the gang. This leaves the majority of the gang in the lower positions making very little giving reason for why they often live with their …show more content…
The book first illustrates the point that many people are afraid of flying in planes but have no problem with driving in a car. However, the authors then question which of these modes of transportation is truly more dangerous and are our fears as they should be. To do this the number of deaths from car accidents and plane crashes in a given year can not just be compared. This is due to the fact that there is many more hours of driving in a given year then there are of flying. To solve this the authors then use the statistics of the number of deaths for both modes of transportation and divides that by the number of hours for each within the year. This use of mathematics then gave a per-hour death rate of driving and flying that could be compared to show which is more dangerous. From this they discovered that the rates are about equal, and thus flying and driving are about equally dangerous. This use of mathematics and statistics hence proved that people's fear of flying compared to a lack of fear of driving is not
The first of which is how schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers are related. It then uses an analysis of student tests scores and sumo wrestlers match results to prove cases of cheating in each. Secondly …show more content…
In the book the authors tackle the issue of why drug dealers often live with their moms even though it is a stereotype they make large amounts of money. In order to find the answer to the question they needed statistics to analyze and luckily a Chicago University student made a crack dealing gang’s business records public. The student had spent large time with the gang trying to gain information on their lives, and was eventually given four years of records by a member when the gang was falling. The authors then used these statistics in the records to discover what the wages of the different positions in the gang by breaking down profits, positions salaries, and the number of people in each position. The author uses mathematics and the statistics presented in the records to find the amount each position made a month and then broke that down even per person then found thier hourly wage. This brought to light the gang branch leader made large profits while the next level down of officers made only 7 dollars and hour and the foot soldiers or dealers made only 3.30 an hour. This would demonstrate that the illusion of drug dealers making large salaries is only see in the high up members of the gang. This leaves the majority of the gang in the lower positions making very little giving reason for why they often live with their …show more content…
The book first illustrates the point that many people are afraid of flying in planes but have no problem with driving in a car. However, the authors then question which of these modes of transportation is truly more dangerous and are our fears as they should be. To do this the number of deaths from car accidents and plane crashes in a given year can not just be compared. This is due to the fact that there is many more hours of driving in a given year then there are of flying. To solve this the authors then use the statistics of the number of deaths for both modes of transportation and divides that by the number of hours for each within the year. This use of mathematics then gave a per-hour death rate of driving and flying that could be compared to show which is more dangerous. From this they discovered that the rates are about equal, and thus flying and driving are about equally dangerous. This use of mathematics and statistics hence proved that people's fear of flying compared to a lack of fear of driving is not