Summary and conclusions Carrying Out an Empirical Project Economics 20- Prof anderson
Economics 20 - Prof. Anderson 1 Summary and Conclusions Carrying Out an Empirical Project
Choosing a topic o Start with a general area or set of questions o Make sure you are interested in the topic o Use on-line services such as econLit to investigate past work on this topic e Narrow down your topic to a specific question or issue to be investigated o Work through the theoretical issue Economics 20- Prof anderson
Economics 20 - Prof. Anderson 2 Choosing a Topic Start with a general area or set of questions Make sure you are interested in the topic Use on-line services such as EconLit to investigate past work on this topic Narrow down your topic to a specific question or issue to be investigated Work through the theoretical issue
Choosing data Want data that includes measures of the things that your theoretical model imply are mportant o Investigate what type of data sets have been used in the past literature Search for what other data sets are available(for example, ICPSR) e Consider collecting your own data Economics 20- Prof anderson
Economics 20 - Prof. Anderson 3 Choosing Data Want data that includes measures of the things that your theoretical model imply are important Investigate what type of data sets have been used in the past literature Search for what other data sets are available (for example, ICPSR) Consider collecting your own data
Using the data o Create variables appropriate for analysis e For example, create dummy variables from categorical variables, create hourly wages etc o Check the data for missing values, errors outliers. etc Recode as necessary, be sure to report what you did Economics 20- Prof anderson 4
Economics 20 - Prof. Anderson 4 Using the Data Create variables appropriate for analysis For example, create dummy variables from categorical variables, create hourly wages, etc. Check the data for missing values, errors, outliers, etc. Recode as necessary, be sure to report what you did
Estimating a model o Start with a model that is clearly based in theory o Test for significance of other variables that are theoretically less clear o Test for functional form misspecification Consider reasonable interactions quadratics, logs, etc. Economics 20- Prof anderson 5
Economics 20 - Prof. Anderson 5 Estimating a Model Start with a model that is clearly based in theory Test for significance of other variables that are theoretically less clear Test for functional form misspecification Consider reasonable interactions, quadratics, logs, etc