freakonomics — Truman Boyes

I just finished reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. This book takes statistics to a new level, away from the bland and grey colored pages of text books, but into a more interesting and delectable taste of the real world. The book presents economic studies that intertwine with seemingly random trivia facts (ie. what do sumo wrestlers have in common with schoolteachers), and the studies on names that parents
give to their children and their economic status including their socioeconomic status (ie. education of parents). It was a truly enjoyable read
that prompted me to keep reading through it even when there were pages of data between actual paragraphs of information.

The citations at the end of the book are thorough and informative. I think I will read some of Roland Fryer’s papers, and look forward to reading any material that may surface between S. Dubner and Roland Fryer’s joint publishing.

Originally published on truman.net. See the archived copy.