Assignment - Final Project

General Guidelines

The objective of this project is to help you build your abilities in carrying out and presenting original work. This project allows you to deepen your knowledge in a subject you are passionate about, as you will be designing the project yourself. The sole requirement is that your project should incorporate any of the quantitative analytic techniques you learn from Module 1 to Module 12 in this course. The final project will account for 40% of your overall course grade. Your grade for this project will be determined as follows:

Assignments % of Final Grade Due Date
01 Project Presentation
 10% TBD
02 Research Paper
 30% TBD

# Part 2

Project Presentation

On the last day of class, all students will present their work as well as learn about other students' works. Students will prepare a 15-minute conference-style presentation.

Components of the Presentation Slides:
  • Title
  • Motivation: 1-2 slides. Include the research questions.
  • Data: 1-3 slides.
  • Estimation Methods: 1-2 slides.
  • Findings/Results: N slides. Include at least one figure.
  • Discussion/Conclusion: 1 slide. What is the main takeaway from your research?
  • Acknowledgements/References

Please note that students are expected to ask questions to each other.

# Part 3

Research Paper

The research paper should follow the basic elements of a novel research project. Project report will be based on the project outline, but improved based on the instructor's feedback. The goal here is to put one of the methodological approaches students learned in this course into practice. The quality of writing matters in the project report assignment. The research paper should be around 4,000 words.

Components of the Project Outline:
  • Title
  • Abstract: 150 words
  • Introduction: 150 words
    • Improved upon the material from the Project Outline
    • Around 3-6 paragraphs
  • Related Work
    • Expand on the materials from the Project Proposal.
  • Data and Methods
    • Describe the dataset used in the analysis, including its source, unit of analysis, variables, and other relevant characteristics. Include a table of descriptive statistics and consider using figures where appropriate.
    • Explain the methodological approach being used, including its underlying assumptions and how it addresses challenges in establishing causal inferences within your context.
  • Results (Optional but recommended)
    • Present results in well-formatted tables and figures. Do not include screenshots of software outputs, as this will result in point deductions.
    • Along with explaining the coefficients and estimates, interpret the results in clear, plain English.
  • Discussion and Conclusion
    • Discuss the key takeaways, implications, and practical significance of your research. Explain how your findings relate to existing empirical evidence, and consider connecting your results to the broader literature.
    • Identify the limitations of your research and suggest directions for future studies.
  • References
    • Include a bibliography.
    • You may use any citation style, as long as it is consistent throughout the document.