Freakonomics Chapter 1 Summary
Anya Brown
Econ 2201
Iris Buder
Freakonomics Chapter 1-2 In chapter 1, we learn that there are consequences to everything, and we also learn about cheating. The book begins talking about being a manager of a day care center. We state that there is a fee of $3 added to the daycare fee is parents are late. You would think that the number of parents arriving late to pick up their children would be lower, but the rate was higher. In fact, it was double. This leads into the discussion of how in economics, it’s all about the incentives. The error with the incentive at the daycare was that the fine was too low. Parents could easily choose to run late all the time because it wasn’t a huge difference in the daycare fees. However, if the fees rose, …show more content…
Everyone cheats in some shape or form. The author has us envision ourselves in charge of a school in Chicago. The student’s test scores reflect the teachers because they’ll get rewarded by the states for satisfactory test scores or improvement. On the other hand, those schools that didn’t do great won’t get a reward. Test taking for the public school system is a huge deal. Standardized tests measure the student’s progress and they have to get a minimum score to move to the next grade. People supporting testing say that the students will be more inclined to study. Some say that it put students in an unfair position, as they may not be good test takers.
Teachers also cheat. Some write the answers to the exams on the board or even give them extra time to finish the exam. Others even go to the measures of filling in blanks for the students. Economists looked at data and created an available test bank of answers for the students. Information about the teachers, demographics and previous and later test scores. The researchers searched for sections of identical answers on the more advanced questions. If a small number of students answered correctly to the hard questions on the last part of the exam, it would be considered suspicious. Answering difficult questions correctly while missing easier ones gave them a reason to be suspicious too. Cheating teachers are equally male and female and one who is younger is more prone to
Econ 2201
Iris Buder
Freakonomics Chapter 1-2 In chapter 1, we learn that there are consequences to everything, and we also learn about cheating. The book begins talking about being a manager of a day care center. We state that there is a fee of $3 added to the daycare fee is parents are late. You would think that the number of parents arriving late to pick up their children would be lower, but the rate was higher. In fact, it was double. This leads into the discussion of how in economics, it’s all about the incentives. The error with the incentive at the daycare was that the fine was too low. Parents could easily choose to run late all the time because it wasn’t a huge difference in the daycare fees. However, if the fees rose, …show more content…
Everyone cheats in some shape or form. The author has us envision ourselves in charge of a school in Chicago. The student’s test scores reflect the teachers because they’ll get rewarded by the states for satisfactory test scores or improvement. On the other hand, those schools that didn’t do great won’t get a reward. Test taking for the public school system is a huge deal. Standardized tests measure the student’s progress and they have to get a minimum score to move to the next grade. People supporting testing say that the students will be more inclined to study. Some say that it put students in an unfair position, as they may not be good test takers.
Teachers also cheat. Some write the answers to the exams on the board or even give them extra time to finish the exam. Others even go to the measures of filling in blanks for the students. Economists looked at data and created an available test bank of answers for the students. Information about the teachers, demographics and previous and later test scores. The researchers searched for sections of identical answers on the more advanced questions. If a small number of students answered correctly to the hard questions on the last part of the exam, it would be considered suspicious. Answering difficult questions correctly while missing easier ones gave them a reason to be suspicious too. Cheating teachers are equally male and female and one who is younger is more prone to