ECON 4331W Writing Assignment:
Choosing a Topic and Getting Started
University of Minnesota
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Outline
1 What is a topic?
2 Choosing a topic
3 Examples
4 Data sources
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Introduction
The first step to writing a good paper is choosing a good topic.
The objective of the writing assignment is to write an empirical research
paper based on original data analysis, so make sure to select a topic
that lends itself to this type of evaluation.
An empirical research paper is a paper that uses data to support any
conclusions about its thesis, i.e. the answer to the research question.
To this end, it is best to choose a narrow, specific topic with clear and
achievable data requirements. This will allow you to focus on successfully
applying economic theory and using the data to support your analysis.
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1 What is a topic?
2 Choosing a topic
3 Examples
4 Data sources
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What is a topic?
A topic is the most general description of what your report is about. It is
the central question your report seeks to answer.
There are many types of potential topics:
Trying to answer a causal question: Using theory to hypothesize
whether changes in one or more variables lead to changes in
something else and using data to test if this relationship exists and is
not just a correlation.
Examining a descriptive question: Documenting variable trends in
the data over time and relating these trends to what economic theory
would predict.
Revisiting a question previously addressed in the literature, using a
different data set or looking at a different time period or set of
countries.
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1 What is a topic?
2 Choosing a topic
3 Examples
4 Data sources
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Choosing a topic
Your topic must be related to an economic question, not too
general or vague, and something on which you can realistically write a
complete report.
Rely on economic theory to help you come up with topic ideas. If
you cannot relate a topic to a theory from class, or at the very least
to some economic phenomenon, it is not an acceptable topic.
Make sure you can get all the data required to complete an empirical
analysis for your topic; if you cannot find appropriate data, it will be
impossible for you to write your paper.
You should be able to explain why your topic is interesting or
important; if you cannot, choose another topic you find more
interesting.
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What is interesting?
Not all research questions are interesting, and since writing economics
papers is time consuming and often difficult, it’s best only to write about
interesting research questions.
Research questions can be interesting for many different reasons, such as:
The practical importance of the answer
Establishing causal evidence for important propositions
Solving scientific puzzles
Questioning commonly held beliefs or assumptions
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What makes a paper economics?
Not all economics papers are focused on purely “economic” variables (i.e.
what is the effect of X on GDP.)
In general there are two types of economic questions:
1 How would an individual/group solve a particular problem, or respond
to a particular incentive?
I Example: How does employment change when minimum wage is
increased by 10%?
2 How would a particular variable respond to an exogenous shock?
I Example: How is the use of public transportation affected by oil prices?
As long as you can use economic theory to make (and then test) a
prediction for your outcome of interest, your paper falls within the realm
of economics.
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Forming a thesis
Keep in mind that a topic is not a thesis:
Your topic is the central question of your report, and your thesis is
the answer to this question.
The thesis is the central claim your report is making.
I It is not what you think the answer is; it is what you found the answer
to be.
I This is why getting started early with the data analysis portion of your
paper is important.
Your thesis is at most one paragraph, and should clearly explain what
you found in the data and how this relates to what the theory predicts.
The rest of your paper will be focused on explaining and proving
your thesis.
I Everything in your report must be related to your thesis; if you cannot
connect something in your report to your thesis you should remove it.
I Ideally, everything in your report not only relates to your thesis, but
supports it as well.
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1 What is a topic?
2 Choosing a topic
3 Examples
4 Data sources
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Examples of successful topics
Are inflation targets successful in developing countries?
Does the availability of early voting increase voter turnout?
What is the effect of “Systemically Important Financial Institution”
designation on risk-taking behavior by banks?
What is the effect of public transportation on the use of child care
services?
What is the effect of mandatory financial education in schools on
personal debt?
What are the effects of family characteristics on children’s adult
incomes?
What is the effect of the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed rail line on
growth?
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Examples of unsuccessful topics
Asian financial crises
How does fiscal policy affect European countries
Hyperinflation
How did a particular policy affect growth rates in Brazil
Trade in coffee between the US and Colombia
Any hypothetical scenario or survey
I Example: What will happen if people begin living on the moon?
I A description of a variable over time
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Takeaways
A good topic for this project has three characteristics:
1 The research question is interesting (or at least important) and well
defined.
2 Data is available to answer the question.
3 Identification is possible.
I That is, you have a viable strategy for using data to provide evidence
to answer your research question.
In contrast, the unsuccessful topics listed above are either uninteresting,
too vague, too broad, or not related to an economic theory.
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1 What is a topic?
2 Choosing a topic
3 Examples
4 Data sources
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Micro and macro data
If you are at a loss as to which topic to choose, a viable approach is to
explore the different types of datasets available and try to connect them
with economic theory.
There are two types of data you might be interested in using:
Micro data: uses households, individuals, firms, etc. as units of
analysis
Macro data: uses countries, regions, the world, etc. as units of
analysis
The question you are trying to answer determines the relevant data level:
Micro data is good for exploring how individuals and firms respond to
incentives.
Macro data is good to explore general tendencies of the economy as a
whole and to make cross-country comparisons.
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Good sources of macro data
Reliable macro data comes from relatively few sources:
Several international institutions have expansive datasets available
online, such as the World Bank, United Nations, IMF and OECD.
Research institutions often publish interesting data, for example
Gapminder, the Penn World Tables, Nielsen, and academics such as
Barro-Lee.
Many countries or state governments and central banks make data
available, for example the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis, and the CIA.
Especially when doing cross-country comparisons, using data aggregated by
a single source (e.g., the World Bank) is preferable, as it is more likely to
have consistent definitions than data aggregated from many sources (such
as collecting GDP figures from many different countries’ central banks).
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Good sources of micro data
Good micro data is available from a wider variety of sources:
US and international censuses are a great resource. Many of them
are available on IPUMS.
I National statistical agencies often carry out detailed surveys in addition
to the “standard” census, such as the American Community Survey,
the American Housing Survey, and the CPS March Supplement.
Some US government departments, such as the DHS, DOI, EIA,
FERC, and EPA, have excellent data available online.
Many websites aggregate data and make it available for download,
e.g. Zillow.
I These might require a bit more hands-on research but are reasonably
easy to come by if you have a specific question in mind.
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UMN Library
More information on both micro and macro data is available on the library
website, https://libguides.umn.edu/econdata.
UMN librarians are trained in the requirements of economics research
papers and often hold workshops to assist students with finding data
or resources for their projects.
In general, you should never have to pay for a data source, article, or
statistical software. All of these should be available through the
University.
If you are looking for journal articles and you are connected to the
(secure) UMN wifi network, you will have access directly from Google
Scholar. If you are off-campus, you will have to log into the library
web-page to download papers free of charge.
Check with the Librarian for Economics (Ms. Jenny McBurney,
jmcburne@umn.edu) if you need help finding data or other resources.
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Selecting a data sample
A few things to keep in mind as you start collecting data:
Do not arbitrarily select a time period or a subset of countries.
I If you choose to examine a specific subset of countries, stick to an
official definition, not an arbitrary selection.
I For example, if you are interested in exploring some trend in developing
countries, do not pick and choose which countries you think are
“developing”. Find an official definition (e.g., the World Bank
definition of Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries) and
stick to that.
Absent a very good reason to restrict your sample, include all
countries and time periods for which data is available.
I If you drop some countries or time periods, you must explain why.
I Some acceptable reasons are: outliers, data is not available for most of
the sample, or you are following what is done in the literature.
Remember that to test a hypothesis you need a counterfactual: in
order to test the effect of X on Y, you need a sample with varying
levels of X.
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Laying the groundwork for data analysis
A few things to keep in mind to help you prepare your data for analysis:
You must conduct some type of regression analysis; it is a minimum
requirement for this paper. Descriptive statistics are not sufficient.
A good starting point is to identify what your dependent variable is
going to be, and what explanatory variables you are going to need
to support your thesis.
I For example, if your dependent variable is an individual’s wage, your
explanatory variables might include age, sex, and years of education.
Aim at compiling all your variables in a single dataset, with a column
for each variable and a row for each observation.
I You can start by saving your data in a spreadsheet (xlsx, csv, or txt)
which can then be imported in a statistical program such as R or Stata.
I If your data comes from multiple sources, your data might be saved in
multiple spreadsheets. Merging multiple data sources is easiest after
the data has been imported in a statistical program.
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