Data Collection Assignment Part 1
Due Monday of Week 4
N. Grawe—Micro Principles 111
As liberally educated citizens we should be in the practice of seeking out facts to inform and revise our thinking on policy debates. This assignment will point you toward information economists often use to begin to understand problems. (When we do professional analysis we usually need to look at other sources with more detailed information.)
Ultimately, you will write a paper advising some elected official on a recently debated policy. Toward this end, you will need to collect data to support your case. In this assignment, you will choose the policy you will study and begin to collect data relevant to that policy.
Identifying a Policy Debate
Use Lexis-Nexis Academic (on the library database page) to identify an economics-related policy proposal in three newspaper articles. (Use of Lexis-Nexis is required.) You will attach copies of these articles to your assignment. Briefly (in one paragraph or less) summarize the policy debate.
Finding Relevant Data
What do I mean by “data”?
There are many types of information which are useful in this context. I want you to find data which means I want to see NUMBERS—not a source’s opinions, or a narrative, or historical facts, or any other non-numerical information.
Whatdo I mean by “relevant”?
Having identified your topic, you will then seek out data that are useful in informing the debate. I do not expect you will find data that clearly settle the issue. Rather, the data will provide important context. For instance, if I choose to study the effects of the minimum wage I know the data sources we will look at will not tell me the number of jobs which will be lost due to a $1 increase in the minimum. (That kind of estimate is found in secondary sources which present an analysis of primary data sources like those we will use.) But I know I can find information on the fraction of the US population in poverty compared with that in other countries, the fraction without a high school education, the median income in the US (or by state), the racial composition of all of the above, etc. This information contextualizes the issue in an important way.
Note: I recognize that depending on your topic the required sources may sometimes not contain data that is directly related to your topic. In such a case, you are to be creative. I have yet to see a topic that could not be connected with the required sources. Two hints on this problem. First, some information is available in more than one source. Use the observations from the “difficult” source in these cases allowing yourself to choose another piece of data from the “easier” source. Second, remember opportunity costs: in deciding to spend a dollar in one place, we forgo the option to spend it in another area. By this way of thinking, any two uses of a dollar are related in the sense that if I didn’t do A then I would be able to do B.
Collecting the data
Basic Government Data
CHOOSE 2 OF 3: Find data from a) the IRS web page ( linked under “tax statistics”, b) the tables at the end of the Economic Report of the President (not the body of the report), and/or c) the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
For each piece of data, write a short paragraph including the data and a brief explanation of how this data informs the debate. Remember, I want to see the numbers in each paragraph. The two paragraphs won’t necessarily “hang together” as this is not a paper.
What You will Turn In
(In this order, please)
1) A one-paragraph summary of the policy you are studying
2) Copies of the news articles which speak to the policy you chose
3) Two paragraphs presenting the data you found
4) Copies of the data tables from which you drew the data (in the same order as your paragraphs!)
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on three criteria:
- How well have you selected your data? Are these powerful pieces of information or are they less useful?
- How well do you connect the data and the policy?
- How well do you present the data and your analysis? (Here is where the quality of your writing enters the assignment.)
Data Collection Assignment Part 2
Due Monday of Week 9
N. Grawe—Micro Principles 111, Winter 2006
This assignment is a continuation of the previous data collection assignment. Please refer to that assignment for detailed instructions. In this assignment we will continue collecting four more pieces of data.
Finding Relevant Data
Detailed Government Data
CHOOSE 2 OF 3: Find data that you think will be useful to your topic from a) a Bureau of Labor Statistics document or web page, b) a government document or web page from a department of YOUR HOME STATE government, and/or c) data from the COUNTY AND CITY DATA BOOK on YOUR HOME COUNTY OR CITY (linked through the Resources for Economists web page).
International Sources
CHOOSE 2 OF 4: Find data that you think will be useful to your topic from a) the International Financial Statistics published by the IMF, b) a document or web page published by the World Bank, c) the UN’s Human Development Reports web page, and/or d) the UNICEF web page.
For each piece of data, write a short paragraph including the data and a brief explanation of how this data informs the debate. Remember, I want to see the numbers in each paragraph. The four paragraphs won’t necessarily “hang together” as this is not a paper.
Additional Requirements:
- At least one paragraph must refer to a data table of your own construction.
- At least one paragraph must refer to a figure or chartof your own construction. (Excel makes nice charts, but you may use other software or freehand.)
Note: When presenting the table and chart, I still want to see numbers referred to in your explanatory paragraph. Creating useful tables and charts can be difficult. I should know from the text of the paragraph alone what I am to see in the table/chart. And I should know from looking at the table/chart alone what I am looking at. In particular, be sure to clearly label axes and columns. You may want to ask a friend to give you feedback on the clarity of your chart and table.
What You Will Turn In
(In this order, please)
1) Summary of your policy (Again! I need to be reminded.)
2) Four paragraphs presenting the data you chose (including one table and one chart of your own construction)
3) Copies of the data tables from which you drew the data (in the same order as your paragraphs!)
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on three criteria:
- How well have you selected your data? Are these powerful pieces of information or are they less useful?
- How well do you connect the data and the policy?
- How well do you present the data and your analysis? (Here is where the quality of your writing, table, and chartenter the assignment.)
Data Collection Assignment Part 3
Due last day of class
N. Grawe—Micro Principles 111, Winter 2006
In this assignment you will complete your data collection and then write a paper based on all of the data you have found.
Finish Finding Relevant Data
YOUR CHOICE OF 2: I want you to find data from two sources not used by you so far. (You do not need to write a paragraph explaining the relevance of this data since you are going to be writing the paper as part of this assignment.)
You now have 8 pieces of data and have had considerable time to think about your policy. Undoubtedly you now see that some of the data you collected in parts 1 and 2 are not as useful as you thought they would be; some other data would be more helpful. Go back to the sources referenced in parts 1 and 2 and finalize your data choices. Ultimately, you must 8 pieces of data drawn from the required sources.
Writing Your Policy Paper
Your Role
You are an aide to an elected official who must vote on the policy you have chosen. Notice that you are not voting, but rather providing background information to a superior who will vote. Your goal is to be informative more than persuasive (though your opinion will undoubtedly affect some choices you make).
Your Task
Drawing on the data you collected, write a 4-5 page (including graphs, charts, and tables) (double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins)paper providing background information for your boss. Your paper must include:
- All 8 required pieces of data, including one table and one chart/figure of your own creation
- A supply-demand graph showing how the proposed policy will affect some market (of course, you will need to explain this figure in your paper)
What You Will Turn In
(In this order, please)
1) Your paper
2) Copies of the data tables from which you drew the new data
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on four criteria:
- Your analysis of the policy using the supply-demand model
- How well have you selected your data? Are these powerful pieces of information or are they less useful?
- How well do you connect the data and the policy?
- How well do you present the data and your analysis? (Here is where the quality of your writing, table, chart, and supply-demand graphenter the assignment.)