Initiation à la recherche en économie

The main goal of this course is to understand how to conduct economic research and write a research paper. This course helps to develop your ability to think critically, engage in structured research based on scientific arguments and to communicate your findings in an organized and concise way. The research process is  broken down into different parts where you will (i) formulate a research question (ii) conduct literature review supported by economic scientific articles (iii) find data source(s), identify relevant data/variables, conduct descriptive summary statistics with STATA (iv) find appropriate empirical methodology and conduct econometric analysis needed to answer your research question (with STATA) (v) write a research paper and present/defend it orally. You will either find your own research question (for the brave) or replicate part of an existing economic scientific paper from a top journal and provide an extension to the paper. Please note, this course is offered within the 'Mineure en Analyse track'. Your research papers therefore are expected to be rigorous on quantitative methods. (Please stroll down to look at important note on obligation of 1st Lecture attendance) 
 

This course contributes to the Governance pedagogical pathway of the Sustainable Development initiative that seeks to provide an integrated training in sustainability.

At the end of this course, you are expected to:

1. 1. Identify the key issues of an unknown industry or a topical issue;
   2. Understand how to formalize a problem and a scientific research question;
   3. Conduct a literature review and report on it scientifically;
   4. Identify the original elements and limitations of a scientific article;
   5. Define an analysis method to explore and propose solutions to the research question;
   6. Collect, process and analyze economic data using statistical tools (econometrics);
   7. Synthesize the results of a scientific article;
   8. Write a scientific article and present orally the main results.

This course will also help you in the future for writing a Masters Thesis.

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

Prerequisite:
STAT-S-202 Probabilite, inference statistique et recherche operationelle (Unit 2)

Strongly recommended for following the course: 
STAT-S-301 Introduction to Econometrics (first term Unit 3)
Workable knowledge of Stata

Cours pré-requis

1. There will be one Introductory lecture (1st lecture) and it is MANDATORY.  Groups will be formed on the day of the introductory lecture, and your topics will be chosen. NO STUDENT IS ALLOWED TO TAKE THE COURSE IF YOU ARE NOT PRESENT at the 1st Lecture . The course moves at a fast paste with assignments already given at the first week.
2. For every milestone of the project, you will have group meetings with the professor  where you present your content and the professor will coach you. Each milestone also comes with hand-in deliverables with deadlines. In total, you will have 4 Group Meetings with the professor, with 3 deliverables +1 final paper to be submitted, 1 presentation/oral exam. Therefore, you will have group meetings with the professor every other week and deliverables in-between. Schedule of meetings and deliverables are posted on the UV page.
3. After the paper is submitted, you will present and defend your work.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

References on writing research papers and writing in general:
Main source:
Nikolov, Plamen. 2020. Writing tips for economics research papers. July 20, 2020.
https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/11041649
Recommended:
McCloskey D. (2000) Economical Writing. Long Grove : Waveland Press Inc
Research Papers for Dummies, by Geraldine Woods (no kidding).
Style, lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Williams and Bizup.
Doing Economics: A Guide to Understanding and Carrying Out Economic Research, by Greenlaw.
If you want to dig deeper: check MIT Open Courseware (superb courses on various topics):ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/ 14-33-economics-research-and-communication-spring-2012/ index.htm
Sources for Research papers and data will be given in the first lecture.

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Examen pratique
• Autre

Examen pratique

Autre

The final grade for this course is based 50% on the jointly written paper,  50% on the oral presentation (you will first present your paper as a group after which you will also be asked questions individually which will also be a part of your oral presentation grade). In order to pass this course, you must get a grade of at least 10 out of 20 points. Free-riding in the group is punished individually with a 0 out of 20. Note, you are not allowed to take the course if you fail to show up for your first lecture. 

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• français
• anglais