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EC831 Lectures Tuesday (AU Term): 14:00-15:00 Zoom Webinar (live) One lecture in SP Term: Monday, week 18 (30 Jan 2023), 9:00-10:00, Zoom Webinar Classes (Spring Term) Support Classes (Stata/R/other package): 5 classes per week, one hour each (weeks 17-25) (Mon 16:00-17:00 (x2); Mon 17:00-18:00 (x2); and Thu 10:00-11:00) Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 2 / 22 General Information (1) 1 EC831 is a compulsory module for all economics degrees 2 It is 30 credits (i.e., it counts twice towards your final year average) 3 It is structured in the following way: (a) Literature Review and Project Plan (15% of the mark) (b) Oral Presentation of the Literature Review and Project Plan (15% of the mark) (c) Final Dissertation (70% of the mark) Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 3 / 22 General Information (2) Literature Review — 1,500 words max Project Plan — 200 words max Deadline: Wednesday, 14 December 2022, 12:00 noon Oral Presentation — You will do it in February 2023 Final Dissertation — (see next slide) It includes the Literature Review (but not the Project Plan) Deadline: 28 April 2023 Check on FASER and Moodle Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 4 / 22 General Information (3) Students can choose to write their dissertation solo (on their own) or in a team (maximum 3 people) (1) If solo (1 student), the dissertation must be of 5,000 words maximum (2) If team of 2 students, the dissertation must be of 6,000 words maximum (3) If team of 3 students, the dissertation must be of 7,000 words maximum Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 5 / 22 General Information (4) In all cases (1)–(3) in the previous slide, the maximum number of words includes the literature review, but excludes abstract, references, tables and figures There is no minimum number of words, but you should try to show your best effort to achieve the best result you can Formation of a team is your decision You choose what is best for you! Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 6 / 22 Project Title By now, each of you should have your title chosen from the list provided (in EC831 Moodle, see under Project) or proposed by yourself If you have not chosen a title yet, Professor Vernasca/I will randomly assign one to you If you dislike the title randomly assigned to you, then you must propose your own title and send it to Prof. Vernasca or me Time is running out, and if you want to propose your own title you should do it as soon as possible Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 7 / 22 Amending the Title of Your Project Can you change your title? (a) To a completely different topic: No, it is impractical at our end, making the organization of the module cumbersome (b) To a slightly different title (but keeping your main topic unchanged): Yes, this can be done at any time (in agreement with your supervisor) Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 8 / 22 Why Does the Project Matter? (1) The project will enable you to demonstrate knowledge of how economic ideas can be applied in greater depth to relevant economic issues You will develop important skills (for future career and future studies): 1 Research skills: Your ability to produce independent/original research on a given problem 2 Writing skills: Your ability to produce a coherent and logical written report 3 Presentation skills: Your ability to present the findings of your literature review in front of an audience Our data shows that the project mark tends to increase students’ final year average → better degree classification Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 9 / 22 Why Does the Project Matter? (2) Your dissertation can be important in job interviews Meeting, and having discussions with, your supervisor helps you in getting good reference letters The best project (i.e., highest mark) receives the Prize for Best Project – good publicity and good for your CV The project can be published in the Essex Economics Students Journal (EESJ) – good publicity and good for your CV In general: after your project, you will be a better economist, capable to apply what you have learnt to answer an economic question → this is what employers look for Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 10 / 22 Supervision You will all be allocated to a supervisor (member of staff) It is your responsibility to contact your supervisor to meet and discuss your project You must meet your supervisors, AT LEAST twice each term The expectation is to have 4 hours total contact time with your supervisor You should submit drafts of your literature review and the final project to your supervisors well in advance relative to deadlines Since supervisors may not be available off-term, you should submit a draft of your final project to your supervisor by the end of Spring Term (you should discuss further with your supervisor about this) Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 11 / 22 What to Expect/Not to Expect from Supervisors Supervisors are here to help and guide you towards your research activity for the project Expect (a) Discuss the approach, coverage and questions to be asked (b) Feedback on your work Not to Expect (a) The supervisor to do the job for you: telling you exactly what and how to write, uploading datasets, finding data, running regressions, etc. Meet your supervisor regularly and well prepared in advance If you have problems with your supervisor, please contact me by email or in my academic support hours Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 12 / 22 Marking Criteria (1) How do we assess a project? * e.g., theoretical analysis, critical discussion of the literature, econometrics (if needed), data presentation and analysis (if needed), use of examples, case studies, etc. Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 13 / 22 Marking Criteria (2) The table above is just a part of the Feedback Form you will receive together with your dissertation mark criteria The full version will be available in the Moodle page of EC831, along with the Feedback Form of the Literature Review and Plan and the general Marking Criteria used in Economics To give you an idea, a First Class mark: (a) Your project should show that you master economic analysis. It must show that you are capable of: doing proper economic research, depending on your title and your approach (for example data analysis, regression analysis, critical analysis of the literature, case studies, etc.), and using appropriate economic reasoning (right economic principles, proper terminology, etc.). (I will explain more in detail what this means during the lectures) Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 14 / 22 Marking Criteria (3) (b) The project must be very well written in English (academic writing) and very well structured (good sensible headings, titles, etc.; the structure will be discussed in future lectures). (I will explain more in detail what that means during the lectures) This is not an easy task, but it is feasible if you put the right amount of effort Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 15 / 22 Marking Criteria (4) These lectures will provide you with the tools to be able to complete a proper project, which means: How to research articles; how to read them; how to write a literature review, and the dissertation in general; how to structure the project, etc. Keep in mind: The project is really your OWN WORK (independent research) You should aim to show off your academic skill, all the skills you pick up while at Essex You can/should see examples of First Class projects in the EESJ Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 16 / 22 Marking Distribution of EC831 in 2021–2022 Distribution First (≥ 70) 49% 60-69 30% 50-59 11% 40-49 8% Fail 2% Total 100 In 2021/22, 79% of students obtained a mark in the project ≥ 60 (not bad!) 7 students failed (a mark below 40), so they had to resubmit over the summer of 2021 (or later) It is possible to get good grades, but you need to put some effort Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 17 / 22 Basic Rules for a Good Mark 1 Demonstrate that you understand your topic (why it is important and what you need to address it) 2 Explain what others have written about your topic and what techniques they used (this is the literature review). Critically discuss their strengths and limitations. Explain how these relate to and inform your own work. Cite correctly and do not plagiarise 3 Think economics and apply economics (and if needed data analysis) to your question. Demonstrate your understanding of your approach and techniques 4 Organise and present your work well. A clear and logical structure, clear labelling and explanation of any tables, graphs and equations 5 Write clearly, logically, and in a professional academic style Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 18 / 22 Plagiarism (1) Always use “ ... ” when quoting any source and write down the source. Avoid long quotations (that is bad style). Example of a quotation: “. . . Friedman argued that monetary policy could not permanently influence the levels of real output, unemployment, or real rates of return on securities” (Sargent and Wallace, 1981). Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 19 / 22 Plagiarism (2) Basic Rules (a) Do not copy from any source (internet, your friends, an essay you have submitted previously (self-plagiarism)) directly into your submitted work, unless you are careful to ensure that all the extracts you include are enclosed in quotation marks (b) It is not sufficient merely to add a citation for the source of copied material following the copied material (typically the end of a paragraph). You must include the copied material in quotation marks Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 20 / 22 Plagiarism (3) Keep in mind: (1) Every project will be reviewed using a software to spot copied material. If there is plagiarism it will be found out (2) Markers may also report if the paper looks suspect, and may confer with the supervisor to consider whether this seems to be your own work (normally it is not difficult to spot this) (3) Ignorance of the rules is no defence (4) Penalties can be very severe: from a formal warning to getting a mark of 0 in the project and this can normally mean no degree! (5) Bottom line: DON’T COPY without properly citing the sources Marco Francesconi (Essex) EC831 - Lecture 1 AU 2022, Essex 21 / 22 Basic Readings There is not a single references on how to write an economics dissertation properly. Here are some references you may want to look