Economics 499
Dr. Reed Olsen
Spring 1999
Assignment 5
The main purpose of this
assignment is for students to choose a topic for their final
project. Students should follow the general procedure presented
in class in choosing the topic. I require that students choose
their own topic, rather than having one assigned to them, for two
reasons. First, it gives students practice in choosing topics for
major assignments that will undoubtedly serve them well later in
their careers. Second, it will hopefully make the final project
more interesting as students are allowed to choose a topic that
they find interesting.
This assignment serves the
purpose, not only of choosing a topic, but also of inducing
students to begin to think about their final project. Students
will also receive feedback on their choice of topic from the
instructor. Please carefully read the feedback and come in and
see the instructor if you have any questions. The feedback will
only be useful if you read and apply it to your project. Finally,
while students will be allowed to change their topic, they can
only do so via the submission of a written request to the
instructor (i.e., they must complete this assignment for the new
topic). Hence, in order not to waste time, please spend time on
this assignment so as to not have to repeat it later.
The assignment is to do the
following:
- To get started choose a broad
topic in which you are interested in doing your final
project. This topic must have economic content.
Your written report must contain a paragraph describing
your initial, broad, topic. (Broad topics are usually
what students choose for their final topics, "I want
to do a paper on GDP.")
- Refine your topic by engaging
in both a search for literature on the topic and a
search for available data on the topic, as discussed in
class. Spend a paragraph identifying your refined topic.
You should be able to clearly, and succinctly, describe
the topic in a few direct sentences. It is often helpful
to write the topic in the form of a question that your
research will answer. For example, here is a topic that I
am currently working on, framed in the form of a
question: "Are the large increases in physician
liability that occurred during the past 30 years a result
of an efficient response to changing conditions in the
practice of medicine?"
- In your written report you
should briefly describe both searches, your literature
search and your search for data. Please be specific,
especially as to the data you expect to use for your
topic. What is (are) the source(s) of the data you found
relevant to your topic? Briefly describe relevant
variables that you have identified in the data. What is
the unit of observation? Will the data be time series or
cross-sectional, aggregated data or individual data?
- You must include a
bibliography of the literature you have found as well as
a short synopsis of what the literature has to say
on your topic.
- Economic Analysis. Recall
that your final project must contain some economic
analysis. I would like you to begin thinking about the
economic analysis that you will use to address your
topic. Spend a brief amount of time, two or three
paragraphs, discussing the possible type of economic
analysis that you intend to use (cost/benefit analysis,
demand and supply analysis, utility analysis, etc.)
- You should end up with a
brief written report, of two or three pages in length
(excluding bibliography.) Following our discussion of
general rules of writing, you must divide your report
into sections, with the following section
headings:
I. Initial Topic
II. Refined Topic
III. Literature Review
IV. Economic Analysis
V. Data
VI. Bibliography
The Assignment is due in class,
Wednesday, March 3rd.
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