Instructions: Your paper should have the following, clearly labeled sections: 1.

Instructions:
Your paper should have the following, clearly labeled sections:
1. Introduction and Statement of Research Question
• Pose and motivate the question to be investigated with your data and
econometric model.
o Good econometric questions are generally based on economic theory,
however econometrics can be used to analyze all kinds of cause and
effect relationships even if they don’t directly relate to previous theory
courses. You can study just about anything that interests you. Since the
goal of the project is causal identification of the effect of one variable
on another, a good question should specify the one primary X
variable and one primary Y variable that you are interested in.
2. Formulation of the Model
• Express the question both verbally and in the form of an equation to be
estimated. Be sure to include the names and units of the dependent and
independent variables.
• You must include at least three independent variables, but can include as
many as you’d like beyond that.
• Explain the mechanisms you believe pertain to your study question and why you
to selected the particular X variables that you did and didn’t select others.
• You may also want to briefly cite relevant literature (e.g. previous studies) that
you come across while researching your topic.
3. Data Description
• Describe the data used to estimate the model. Your data set must have at least 40
observations.
o You should construct a table that provides the mean, minimum,
maximum and standard deviation (and any other summary statistics
you feel are relevant) of all variables in the model.
Describe the content of the table(s) in the text of your paper.
You might also want to show and discuss key scatterplots or
graphs of interest.
• It is up to you as to where you find the data. Lots of economic data are available
on the web (e.g. government agency websites).
• Your data does not need to be strictly economic though.
o Look up Freakonomics and other work by Steve Levitt; you can study
whatever interests you. If you like sports, pull some data off ESPN; if you like comic books, key in data from a price guide; if you raise horses,
you may know where to get sales data; etc.
• You should not simply use data that came with the book or is downloadable
from the Gretl website. This is your opportunity to do something new and
creative.
• You may want to focus on cross-sectional data since we discuss this most in
class, however if you do choose an alternate type of data analysis you should be
careful in your write- up and interpretation.
• To use Gretl, it may be necessary to import your data from another format (e.g.,
Excel, ASCII, CSV, etc.). To do this, use file  open data user file 
(format).
4. Empirical Results
• Present the results of the OLS estimation (and/or other appropriate technique
learned in class) in the form of a table(s).
o Tables should be formatted as easy-to-read tables rather than cut and
pasted out of Gretl.
o You may want to, for example, examine your key parameter estimates
with and without additional regressors to compare any differences (i.e.
run a single regressor model and then a multiple regression model).
• You should show at least three specifications of your design.
o These will likely include various non-linear versions of a baseline model,
for example by adding a polynomial or interaction variable, or by
creating relevant categorical or binary variables to analyze group effects.
• Explain the meaning of estimated coefficients in your model and whether or
not coefficients are statistically significant and at what level.
• Also discuss the goodness of fit measure for the model (e.g. R-squared, SER,
adjusted R-squared).
5. Summary and Discussion
• Summarize your main results and discuss limitations to your approach.
o Carefully explain caveats to your study, especially whether or not certain
parameter estimates may be biased.
o Suggest what other independent variables, possible functional forms, or
statistical tests might be appropriate to include and any interesting
follow-up questions or extensions that may have come to mind.
o Address all issues of internal and external validity.
Bibliography
• All cited sources should be reported in a bibliography in MLA format.
o One useful reference is your textbook.
• Also include anything relevant that is not within the main document at the end,
such as attachments of key Gretl output.
Formatting:
• Your report must be typed and proofread.
• There is no set minimum length of your paper as long as you cover all of the
requirements.
o However, your paper should not exceed six double spaced pages with 12-
point font and one inch margins.
o This six-page maximum does not include attachments, graphs, tables etc.
• Projects are to be turned in via Canvas and must be completed individually.
o Your paper should be only your own work and not that of any other person.
o Plagiarizing, copying, working with other students, or any other evidence of
academic dishonesty will result in a score of zero on this project.
• Please include the following in your paper and sign by typing your name: “Honor
Pledge: ‘I did not give, receive, or use any unauthorized assistance on this project.’
Signed ———————-”
o “Unauthorized assistance” includes submitting a paper or part of a paper from
another class this term or any past term by you or by anyone else. You may,
however, use data that you have used in another context as long as your
research question and major analysis is different and your submission to this
class is therefore unique.

The post Instructions:
Your paper should have the following, clearly labeled sections:
1. appeared first on Skilled Papers.