Econometrics Research Proposal Assignment (Topic Memo)

Your Topic Memo will consist of a clear statement of your topic and the question you wish to answer, a summary of why I should care about the answer, and your expected findings. You also need to locate data that you can access that you feel will let you answer your question. You are expected to find at least 2 respected references (academic journal articles) related to this topic, use them in your discussion, and cite them correctly. You are not limited to two references. You should also find other references (academic or otherwise) that support the importance of your topic.

This memo should be a maximum of two pages long. It should be concise, coherent, and cogent.

General Grading Breakdown:

Proper Grammar and Spelling / 10 points
Properly citing 2 academic journal articles and using them in your write-up. / 10 points
Correctly using the terminology from the class. / 10 points
Clearly stating your question. (Your question should be your title.) / 10 points
Describing the topic. (Define terms. Elaborate on your question and key variables.) / 15 points
Convincing me I should care. (If you fail to convince me [or your senior seminar professor] I should care, your topic will not be approved for Econometrics or Senior Seminar and you will be asked to find a new topic.) / 20 points
Summarizing expected findings. (Including your basic model, a brief description of the variables you hope to include, and why they should be included.) / 15 points
Describing a potential data source. (You need to make sure you can access data that will let you answer your question.) / 10 points

This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade in the course.

Econometrics Data Summary Assignment (Data Memo)

Your Data Memo will consist of a clear summary of the source(s) of your data, a summary of any cleaning you performed, and a description of your data. A scientist (social or otherwise) is only as good as his/her data. This is your chance to convince me your data is trustworthy and that you have cleaned it correctly. If your data isn’t trustworthy your results are inherently unconvincing.

You should be comfortable with either Stata or R at this point, so the Summary Statistics must come from one of those two statistical packages.

This memo should be a maximum of two pages long. It should be concise, coherent, and cogent.

General Grading Breakdown:

Proper Grammar and Spelling / 10 points
Correctly using the terminology from the class. / 10 points
Describing your source(s). (I want specifics. Where did you acquire it? Who collected it? Why do you trust them?) / 25 points
Describing any cleaning you performed. (Be specific. You must be careful not to introduce selection concerns that can be avoided.) / 25 points
Describing characteristics of key variables. (Directly interpret the mean of your dependent variable and any other important variables. Point out any other interesting statistical characteristics of your data.) / 25 points
Attaching summary statistics. (These can be raw output from your statistical package [Stata or R]. This is econometrics. Spend your time making sure the work is correct, not making it pretty. You’ll make it pretty in Senior Seminar. This does not count against your two page maximum.) / 5 points

This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade in the course.

Econometrics Preliminary Results Assignment (Results Memo)

Your Results Memo will consist of a clear description of the equation you estimated, the technique you used to estimate it, a summary of your results, and a description of any important econometric concerns. This is your opportunity to present your preliminary results. This is the baseline set of results you will use to build your paper and presentation during Senior Seminar. If your approach suffers from any econometric issues (and it almost certainly does, they always do) then you need to carefully explain how you will address those issues during Senior Seminar in a way that convincingly conveys your identification strategy. This component of your memo is your game plan for Senior Seminar. Plan well.

This memo should be a maximum of two pages long. It should be concise, coherent, and cogent.

General Grading Breakdown:

Proper Grammar and Spelling / 10 points
Using the terminology from the class. / 10 points
Including the equation you estimated written out in the proper format. (It doesn’t have to be beautiful, but it must be correct.) / 15 points
Summarizing your results. (What is the answer to your question? This is why we do what we do. Interpret that coefficient. Is the magnitude meaningful? Also explain any other interesting results.) / 20 points
Describing the problems with your analysis. (If you don’t think you have any problems then you haven’t been paying attention.) / 20 points
Carefully explaining the identification strategy you will employ in Senior Seminar. / 20 points
Attaching your regression results. (These can be raw output from your statistical package [Stata or R]. This is econometrics. Spend your time making sure the work is correct, not making it pretty. You’ll make it pretty in Senior Seminar. This does not count against your two page maximum.) / 5 points

This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade in the course.