Which statement best describes the 2015 self-employment study?

• A. It compared wage levels across sectors.
• B. It examined geographic distribution of self-employment.
• C. It surveyed changes over time in employment status without distinguishing incorporated status.
• D. It tracked changes over time, focusing on incorporated versus unincorporated status.

Answer: (D)

The question is testing how the 2015 self-employment study was designed. The best description is that it tracked changes over time, focusing on incorporated versus unincorporated status. This means it followed the same or similar groups across years and distinguished whether the self-employed were operating as a formal incorporated entity or as unincorporated individuals. That longitudinal, status-specific approach lets us see how the corporate structure of self-employment evolves over time, which can reflect shifts in business formation, taxation, liability, and formalization.

The other possibilities describe different angles—comparing wages across sectors, looking at geographic distribution, or examining changes over time without differentiating between incorporated and unincorporated status—and these don’t capture the study’s emphasis on how legal status within self-employment changes across years.