The First Chapter Of Freakonomics By Steven D. Levitt

1. In the first chapter of Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it talks about dealing with societal mores, economic incentives, and cheating. With schoolteachers, the possibility of getting a pay raise and the grades their students get on standardized tests are some of the incentives that derive them to cheat. In the book, Levitt explains how he examines sets of answers to these tests and tries to see a pattern if teachers were changing answers for their students. Dubner and Levitt, both incorporate samples of these scored tests and have the readers try and find the cheating detected on there. â€Å"Teacher cheating is rarely looked for, hardly ever detected, and just about never punished.† (Levitt and Dubner 24) The incentives for teachers are to be more recognized and a chance to get a better pay while, for sumo wrestlers, they can move up a rank. The only difference is that for sumo wrestlers, they never got caught because in Japan, they assume they are always telling the truth and never lying, while for teachers, some lost their jobs because they were caught. â€Å"Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less.† (Levitt and Dubner 21) Cheating is something I have witnessed multiple of times while being in school. There were students who would help and talk during tests to get better grades on the exam since the teacher wasn’t paying attention to the class when we took the test. At the end of it all, they did get away with it and the reasonShow MoreRelatedA Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything By Steven Levitt Essay1537 Words   |  7 PagesAfter reading Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, it opened my eyes to the most interesting approach to the world. The book name in itself is an odd and unique title. 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