Question

Despite all the attention paid to rogue companies like Enron, academics know very little about the practicalities of white-collar crime. The reason? There are no good data. A key fact of white-collar crime is that we hear about only the very slim fraction of people who are caught cheating. Most embezzlers lead quiet and theoretically happy lives; employees who steal company property are rarely detected.

With street crime, meanwhile, that is not the case. A mugging or a burglary or a murder is usually tallied whether or not the criminal is caught. A street crime has a victim, who typically reports the crime to the police, who generate data, which in turn generate thousands of academic papers by criminologists, sociologists, and economists. But white-collar crime presents no obvious victim. From who, exactly, did the masters of Enron steal? And how can you measure something if you don’t know to whom it happened, or with what frequency, or in what magnitude?

The excerpt helps the authors support their conclusion by
evaluating a logical fallacy.
providing statistical evidence.
presenting logical statements.
summarizing their claim.

Answer 1

Option A. The excerpt helps the authors support their conclusion by evaluating a logical fallacy.

Step-by-step explanation:

The excerpt is helping the authors of the text to support their conclusion by evaluating a logical fallacy. A logical fallacy is the use of invalid or flawed thinking when constructing an argument. In the excerpt's case, the author is evaluating the logical fallacy that states that white-collar crime is easier to successfully commit because there is no good data about it, therefore it is not largely publicized, and people who commit these types of crimes are rarely detected. By reading the text written by authors Levitt and Dubner, it can inferred that the logical fallacy relies on generalizing a big scale problem with a singular or rather small example and/or comparison.

Answer 2

By evaluating a logical fallacy, the excerpt above assists the authors in supporting their conclusion.

Known as a flaw in reasoning or the “incorrect moves” in the heat of an argument, logical fallacies are often sneakily utilized by media and politicians to mislead people since logical fallacies are comparable to thought’s illusions or tricks.