Research Methods (MAAE)

Course Information

Instructor

• Dr. Jessica Vechbanyongratana (ajarn.jessica@gmail.com)

Course Description

• Nature and purposes of applied economics research; problem identification; conceptual framework; literature review; research methodology; data collection; data analysis; development of research proposal; research report writing.

Classroom

• Econ 509

Course Management

• All course assignments are posted on this page and must be turned in using the Google Form links below.

Office Hours

• Aj. Jessica: Please sign up through Calendly. My office hours are in Econ 519.

Syllabus

• Syllabus

Graded Work

• In-class work (25%)

  • Dissecting an economic paper

  • Economic research question

  • Citation, bibliography, and plagiarism

• Workshop participation (5%)

• Homework (45%)

  • Finding and organizing literature

  • Literature review

  • Empirical methodology

  • Introduction

  • Academic paper presentation

• Final proposal paper and presentation (25%)

Grading

90-100% A; 85-89.9 B+; 80-84.9 B; 75-79.9 C+; 70-74.9 C; 65-69.9 D+; 60-64.9 D; below 60 F 

Course Schedule (Updated March 20)

• 9:00-12:00 March 27 - What is research? Dissecting an economic paper

  • Medium series on dissection a paper:

    • Part 1: Dissecting a Scientific Research Paper

    • Part II: Dissecting a Scientific Research Paper — the Abstract

    • Part III: Dissecting a Scientific Research Paper — the Introduction and Methods

    • Part IV: Dissecting a Scientific Research Paper — the Results

    • Part V: Dissecting a Scientific Research Paper — Discussion and Conclusion

  • Example of dissecting and annotating an economic research paper

  • Dissecting a paper Assignment instructions and link for homework submission

  • Lounkaew (2013)

• 13:00-16:00 March 27 - Research topics and forming an economic research question

  • In-class assignment articles: 1, 2, 3

• 13:00-16:00 March 29 - Literature search and APA style

  • Virtual and non-virtual sources

  • Reed College Guide

  • APA Quick Guide

  • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

  • Homework due March 31 is described at the end of the lecture notes. Please submit the homework here.

• 9:00-12:00 March 31 - Academic integrity

• 13:00-16:00 March 31 - Organizing literature and writing the literature review

  • In-class exercise papers 1, 2, 3

  • Summarizing literature homework (due Monday, April 3 end of day) Please submit the homework here.

• 9:00-12:00 April 3 - Using AI ethically in research (Aj. Yong)

• 13:00-16:00 April 3 - Empirical methodology and writing up the results

  • Empirical Methods Homework (due end of day on Friday, April 7) Please submit the homework here.

• 13:00-16:00 April 4 - Workshop

• 9:00-12:00 April 5 - The introduction

  • In-class assignment on the introduction: Please submit the in-class assignment here by end of day on April 5th

• 13:00-16:00 April 5 - Presenting economic research

• 9:00-12:00 April 10 - Economic paper presentations  Please submit your presentation in PDF format here

• 13:00-16:00 April 10 - Economic paper presentations (cont.) and writing the IS/thesis proposal

• 13:00-16:00 April 11 - iThesis (in the computer lab with Ohmar Khine)

• 13:00-16:00 April 18 - Workshop - Please bring a draft of your proposal to discuss one-on-one with a professor

• 9:00-12:00 April 21 - Proposal paper/presentation Please upload your proposal presentation and paper here. Both need to be in PDF format.

• 13:00-16:00 April 21 - Proposal paper/presentation