Question

read the following excerpt from levitt and dubners freakonomics. he had also—quite without meaning to—designed a beautiful economic experiment. from the beginning, feldman kept rigorous data on his business. so by measuring the money collected against the bagels taken, he found it possible to tell, down to the penny, just how honest his customers were. did they steal from him? if so, what were the characteristics of a company that stole versus a company that did not? under what circumstances did people tend to steal more, or less? based on the excerpt, which of the following best explains why the authors included feldman in their study? feldman designed a beautiful economic experiment. feldman kept rigorous data on his business. feldman disliked people who stole from him. feldman encouraged people to steal less.

Explanation:

The text emphasizes that Feldman kept rigorous data on his business. This data - measuring money collected against bagels taken - allowed for analysis of customer honesty. The other options are either not the main reason (e.g., "designed a beautiful economic experiment" is a side - note as it was "quite without meaning to") or not supported (there's no indication he disliked thieves or actively encouraged less stealing).

Answer:

Feldman kept rigorous data on his business.