ECN 4689--Theory & Research

Dr. Ali R. Moshtagh

Department of Economics

2371 Coleman Hall

217-581-2916

amoshtagh@eiu.edu

OFFICE HOURS: 11:00 - 11:50 am MWF, 8:30 - 9:30 TR

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A capstone course to apply theory in undergraduate research. A written report, oral presentation, and external field examination are required.

Prerequisites: ECN3972, ECN4801, and ECN4802

Required Assignments (70% of Total Points)

• 4 February, Identify Research Area (Half-page report) (2%)
• In a half-page report identify the economic area in which you are going to do your research project. Briefly, explain the general nature of the research question that you are going to investigate. What are the central questions the study attempts to answer?
• 18 February, Literature Review (Four to Six-page report) (6%)
  • Provide a list of books, journal articles, manuscripts, working papers, or any other publications that you are going to review for this project. In your list and in an alphabetical order, state the name of the author(s), the title of the publication, publisher, date, page numbers, and all other relevant information related to each publication. Use the APA style for citations and references. Visit http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/citation/ for information about citation styles for online documents.
  • In addition, prepare a list of citations to the books, articles, and documents that you are reviewing for your research project. Each citation must be followed by a brief (about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/
• 25 February , Choose Topic and Justify (Two to Three-page report, refer to Literature Review) (3%)
  • State the economic question that you attempt to answer. Briefly, describe the importance of your research project. In your description, provide evidence concerning the importance of your study and explain the feasibility and inherent value of the research project. Good research is valuable to the researcher, discipline, and ultimately to society. By referring back to the previous assignment, literature review, explain how you are building on what has been done in the past.
• 4 March, Identify Hypotheses (Half-page report) (2%)
  • After having thoroughly researched your question, you should have some educated guess about how things work. This educated guess about the answer to your question is called the hypothesis. A hypothesis, then, is a proposed explanation of a phenomenon, which still has to be rigorously tested. The hypothesis must be worded so that it can be tested in your experiment. Do this by expressing the hypothesis using your independent variable (the variable you change during your experiment) and your dependent variable (the variable you observe-changes in the dependent variable depend on changes in the independent variable). In fact, many hypotheses are stated exactly like this: "If a particular independent variable is changed, then there is also a change in a certain dependent variable."
• 20 March, Proposal (At least three pages long) (7%)
• 17 April, Posters Due
• 24 April, First Draft (Electronic Submission)
• 1 May, Oral Presentations (15%)
• 5 May, Final Draft (35%)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The following outlines learning goals primarily acquired in this capstone course. Students learn to

• apply the tools they have learned throughout their Economics major to a particular research question in an area of personal interest;
• access the existing knowledge relevant to their chosen research area;
• prepare annotated bibliographies summarizing, interpreting, and evaluating the existing knowledge;
• formulate hypotheses and use statistical procedures and published economic data to test those hypotheses;
• create new knowledge; and
• communicate the findings of their research projects in posters, written reports, and oral presentations.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Research Methods, January 14 - March 6, 2014

• Doing Economics
• What is Research?
• Steps of the Research Process for Economics
  • Developing an Effective Research Question
  • Surveying the Literature
  • Analyzing the Problem
  • Research Design
  • Testing your Analysis
  • Interpreting the Results and Drawing Conclusions
  • Communicating the Findings of the Research Projects
• Effective Writing
• APA Style

Mid Term Exam (15%), Thursday, March 11, 2014

Micro & Macro Research Topics, March 13 - April 30, 2014

• Economic Models
  • Factor Price Equalization Theorem
  • Leontief's Paradox
• The Price System
  • Partial-Equilibrium Analysis
  • The Market for Wheat
  • Market Demand
  • Elasticity
• Theories of Consumer Choice
  • The Cardinal Theory
  • The Ordinal Theory
• Rules for Differentiating Univariate Functions
• Theories of Production
  • One Variable Input
  • Two variable Inputs
  • Cobb-Douglas Function
• Cost Functions
• Optimal Input Combinations
• Market Structures
• Markets for Inputs
• General Equilibrium Analysis
• Externalities and Public Goods
• National Income Determination Models
• Stabilization Policy
• International Trade and Finance

Oral Presentations of Research Projects, May 1, 2014

Poster Presentation (15%) -- April 23, 2014

Attendance Policy:

It is of utmost importance that you attend class as scheduled on a regular basis. Failure to comply with this policy will be penalized severly. Each unauthorized (unexcused) absence will result in the loss of points equivalent to %4 of the next test points.

REFERENCE BOOK:

Doing Economics: A Guide to Understanding and Carrying Out Economic Research, Steven A. Greenlaw, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

McCloskey, D. N., Economical Writing, Long Grove, IL, Waveland Press, Inc., 2000.

Newbold, P., Carlson, W. L., & Thorne, B., Statistics for Business and Economics, Sixth Edition, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2007.

NOTE 1:

No exam grades will be eliminated. No exams will be made up unless arrangements have been made PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED EXAM DATE. Messages left on my voice mail will not be considered as proper arrangements.

NOTE 2:

Academic integrity - Students are expected to maintain principles of academic integrity and conduct as defined in EIU's Code of Conduct (http://www.eiu.edu/judicial/studentconductcode.hph). Violations will be reported to the Office of Student Standards.

NOTE 3:

Students with disabilities - If you are a student with a documented disability in need of accommodations to fully participate in this class, please contact the Office of Student Disability Services (OSDS). All accommodations must be approved through OSDS. Please stop by Ninth Street Hall, Room 2006, or call 217-581-6583.

NOTE 4:

The Student Success Center - Students who are having difficulty achieving their academic goals are encouraged to contact the Student Success Center (http;//www.eiu.edu/~success) for assistance with time management, test taking, note taking, avoiding procrastination, setting goals, and other skills to support academic achievement. The Student Success Center provides individualized consultations. To make an appointment, call 217-581-6696, or go to 9th Street Hall, Room 1302.

NOTE 5:

"Each faculty member has the authority to establish the conditions for student cell phone use in his/her classroom. These conditions are at the discretion of the faculty member, but will provide that a university-initiated campus security text message can be received and disseminated to those in the classroom in a timly manner." Eastern position on cell phones in classrooms.

My position on cell phones: there is absolutely NO TEXTING allowed in class, you may NOT hold your cell phones in your hands in class, and you may NOT use your cell phones as calculators during exams.

SPECIAL DATES IN THE SPRING TERM 2014 CALENDAR

Classes Begin: January 13, 2014

M.L. King's Brithday Observance-No Classes: January 20

Last Day to Drop a Course With No Grade: January 27

W for Course Withdrawal Beings: January 28

Lincoln's Birthday Observance-No Classes: February 14

Mid Term: March 6

Spring Recess: March 10 - 14

Last Day to Withdraw from a Course or University with W: April 4

Final Examinations: May 5 - 9

Deadline to Return Books/TRS/No Fine 3 p.m. May 9