Economics 8090
Research Methods
David B.
Mustard
Fall 2012
Paper Assignments
Economics 8090 Homepage
Mustard Homepage
Paper Guidelines
The general principle for your writing is that at this point in
your career everything you write should look professionally done.
1. Your name, date, and a brief name of the assignment should be
clearly printed on the top of each paper or on a title page.
2. Staple all papers.
3. The text of your paper should be double-spaced
throughout (except tables, which can be single spaced) with standard
margins.
4. Pages should be numbered.
5. Use a normal font, such as Times New Roman
6. Use footnotes rather than endnotes.
List of paper assignments
1. Paper on why you chose your discipline
Due: Fri. 8/17
Write a 3-4 page essay explaining:
a. Your reason for pursuing a Ph.D. in economics.
b. What field(s) or questions interest you most and why.
Please do not write something that looks like it came from a
department's webpage. I prefer a personal essay that gives your
idiosyncratic reasons for choosing the discipline.
2. Paper on research ideas (at least 5 pages)
Due: Fri. 8/24
Prepare a list of 5 topics that you are interested in researching this
semester. For each topic include at least a page that:
1. Clearly articulates your question
2. Explains why this question is important.
3. Discuss the expected contribution of your research
4. Briefly sketch out the relevant theory.
5. Mention the data sets that you are considering
using for your research. If you are unaware of any existing data sets,
briefly explain the type of data you would need to do this research.
6. List faculty members that you have talked to about the idea.
7. List faculty members who you think could be good advisors to work with.
2a. In-class Presentation of two research ideas
Due: Mon. 8/27 and Wed. 8/29
Choose what you believe are your two most promising
research ideas. Do brief presentations of both of these ideas in class.
Presentations should be relatively short--no more than 5 minutes per
idea.
Students who are not presenting are responsible for providing verbal feedback to your classmates.
If you have questions about which you should present, I would be glad to talk to you outside of class.
3. Prepare a set of annotated references for two of your chosen topics.
Due: Fri. 9/7
Write your references in acceptable reference format.
Write a brief
overview that clearly articulates the value added of your research in
light of the literature. For example, is this an entirely new problem?
Do you make a theoretical innovation? Do you use a new technique on a
commonly studied problem? Do you have better data that will help you
solve some empirical problem?
The references
should include relevant published articles, working papers, and books.
Use the resources discussed in class to find recent articles and
papers. An annotated reference
list provides brief summaries of each paper or information, such as I include below:
Type (theory/empirical)
Data source: CPS, NLS, UCR, CRSP, ...
Unit of observation: individual, city, county, state, national
Range of Years: 1977-2005
Methods: IV, 2SLS, GMM,
Contribution:
Conclusion:
4. Prepare an precis/outline of 1 paper that you would like to work on this term.
Due: Mon. 9/17
This is the point where you start to make your research look like a
real working paper. Include a title page and outline the subsections
that you anticipate including in the paper and the order in which you
anticipate they will appear. A typical precis will have an the
following sections:
Some sections may contain very little while other
portions may contain a lot. But I encourage you to develop the outline
now and then work at filling in the various sections. Some papers
include literature reviews.
Somewhere indicate whether you have a committee, and if so, who is on your committee.
Outline for your final paper
Title Page and Abstract
1. Introduction
- purpose
- your contribution
(Why should I read your paper? What value does it have?)
- literature
review
2. Theory
- explanation
of problem/implications
3. Data
- discussion
of data
- data limitations/
problems
4. Estimation Strategy
5. Results
- explain
empirical model
- test various
implications
6. Conclusions
- summarize
objective, importance and results
- outline
future research
7. References--references should be formatted
properly. Use hanging format and use the format on the writing page.
All papers that are cited should be in the reference section and all
papers in the reference section should be cited.
- All research that you cite in
the paper must be listed in the references. Do not include
items in the references that you do not cite in the text.
5. Data Paper: the main goal is to write this section close to how it would appear in your paper.
Due: Wed. 9/26
This paper should examine two possible data sets that you are considering using for your dissertation.
It should include the following:
1. Goal of the paper and why it is
important. Clearly state the research question.
2. A short description of the data
- what variables are included? time series? cross section? years?
3. If appropriate, cite a few other papers that use these data.
4. What problems or limitations do
these data have? For example, number of years, number of observations,
do they use the correct level of analysis (individual, county, state,
national, etc.), consistent definitions over time with longitudinal or
panel data, and are the variables measured with error?
5. How can you attempt to correct
for those limitations?
6. Summary statistics or figures (if you have them).
If you are doing a theory paper, examine some models
that you may use for your research. Use the above guidelines about what
to write. In addition, explain how you may adjust the model for your
particular question.
5a. Data Paper In-class presentation
Due: Mon. 10/1
This presentation should cover the same points that the paper discusses that are noted above.
6. Referee report
Due: Fri. 11/16. Submit before Thanksgiving break.
Review a paper that is helpful
for your dissertation research. Write a formal referee report of the
paper.
7. Presentation of your paper (Due: different days in Nov.)
In November, each student will present his or her
paper during class. You must email a draft of your paper to the class
and me at least 48 hours before your presentation. Tentative dates for presentation include:
11/5: Theresa Henry
Respondent: Jacob Malone
11/7: Mark Kelly Respondent: Raymond Edwards
11/12: Molly Candon Respondent: Ruxandra Brebenel
11/14: Jacob Malone Respondent: Theresa Henry
11/26: Raymond Edwards Respondent: Mark Kelly
11/28: Ruxandra Brebenel Respondent: Molly Candon
After each talk, the respondents should email the presenter a summary of suggestions to improve their paper.
8. Final paper (Due: Tue. 12/11 at noon)
General Principle: Write and format your paper so that it looks like a journal article. Submit both your paper and your draft that contains my comments.
Comments on Papers
Please keep these data papers
and hand them back in to me when you turn in your next paper.
Explain why your work is important!
How does it differ from other work?
1) I circle or underline important
parts of your paper. This is for my own use and you can ignore such markings.
2) [xxxx] - brackets indicate an alternative
way to word something. What you have written is not wrong, but could be
articulated more directly and clearly.
3) Be clear about data - what is the
unit of observation? What years? Where are the data from?
4) Explain why you use these data
(time, place, level of observation). Is it the most important period? Gap
in literature? Updating a previous study? This geographic area has not
been examined?
5) Why did you choose certain criteria
for your study? Justify the choices you make. Is this commonly accepted
in the literature? Exam the implications of your choices (sample selection,
bias, etc.).
6) Throughout the paper use the same tense to discuss literature
(usually present or past tense).