This repository contains all of the course materials for AS.180.369 “Tools for Writing a Research Paper in Economics.” (Fall 2023)
NOTE: This syllabus is a live document. It will be periodically updated as the course progresses!
- Overview
- Instructor—Chris Carroll
- Teaching Assistant—Matthew Zahn
- External Support—Cameron Riddell
- Course Materials
- Course Description
- Course Requirements
- Schedule
- Grading
- Policies
This is an in-person course, held on the Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus:
| - | - |
|---|---|
| Title | AS.180.369 “Tools for Writing a Research Paper in Economics” |
| Hours | Monday 3:00 PM US/Eastern ~ 5:30 PM US/Eastern |
| Dates | Aug 28, 2023 ~ Dec 8, 2023 (See below for schedule.) |
| Location | Hodson 315 (Homewood Campus) |
This course will be conducted by your instructor and a teaching assistant, supported by additional, external contributors:
- Instructor: Chris Carroll [email protected]
- Teaching Assistant: Matthew Zahn [email protected]
- External Support†: Cameron Riddell [email protected]
† Cameron is not affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.
Please contact me about this course at my e-mail address: [email protected]. For assignments in this course, course attendees are also encouraged to communicate by @-tagging me on Github. My Github handle is llorracc. (Also, see below for the communications policy for this course.)
My office is located at Wyman Park Building 590. I hold office hours Friday 1:45 - 3:45 PM US/Eastern. You must book in advance via [http://www.econ2.jhu.edu/people/ccarroll/](https://github.com/ccarrollATjhuecon/Teaching/blob/master/Logistics/Office-Hours-Rules.md)
If you need to meet with me outside of these times, please e-mail me.
I am a professor of economics at JHU and co-chair of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the Aggregate Implications of Microeconomic Consumption Behavior. Originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, I received my A.B. in Economics from Harvard University in 1986 and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. After graduating from M.I.T., I worked at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington DC, where I prepared forecasts for consumer expenditure. I moved to Johns Hopkins University in 1995 and also spent 1997-98 working at the Council of Economic Advisors in Washington, where I analyzed Social Security reform proposals, tax and pension policy, and bankruptcy reform. Aside from my current work at Hopkins and the NBER, I am also an associate editor at the Review of Economics and Statistics,(ReStat) the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, (JBES) and the Berkeley Electronic Journal of Macroeconomics (BEJM).
Please contact me about this course at my e-mail address: [email protected]. For assignments in this course, course attendees are also encouraged to communicate by @-tagging me on Github. My Github handle is matthew-zahn.
(Also, see below for the communications policy for this course.)
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Economics Department at Johns Hopkins University. My research focuses on industrial organization with an emphasis on healthcare topics.
Cameron is a contributor to the Econ-ARK project, which is led by Chris Carroll.
Cameron is not affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.
Please contact me about this course at my e-mail address: [email protected]. For assignments in this course, course attendees are also encouraged to communicate by @-tagging me on Github. My Github handle is camriddell. (Also, see below for the communications policy for this course.)
Feel free to contact external support for additional technical support or instructional guidance (where directed by your TA.)
Do not contact or CC external support for issues relating to absences, grading, accommodations, or other personal matters.
Cameron worked in academia studying various aspects of psychology, including the neural activity underlying social interaction, perception of taste, and human memory. His studies naturally led him to learn Python, which he has been writing for over 8 years with a strong emphasis on data analytics and scientific communication.
Location for all course materials & guidance for how they will be distributed.
This course will introduce students to the components involved in writing a research paper in economics or other quantitative disciplines, by spending the semester having them writing such a paper. Early in the semester, each student will pick a topic for their paper, which will consist just of a brief description of the question (probably a topic they have studied in a previous course). As the semester progresses, the student will learn how to flesh out this germ of a topic into a full-length paper using many of the internet and other tools that are used by scholars in their own research. These include tools for exploring a topic (Google Scholar; ChatGPT; Wikipedia); compiling a bibliography of references to your subject (LitMaps; PaperPile); creating a document with appropriate content (Jupyter notebooks); project management and collaboration via GitHub; generation and incorporation of figures and tables; and the preparation of slide presentations. This will be a hands-on course: Students will bring their laptops to the lecture and the use of the tools will be taught live and interactively. Writing assignments will take the form of Jupyter notebooks (or, for any graduate student enrollees, LaTeX documents).
Recommended Course Background: some familiarity with python or other modern programming languages (though having taken a formal course in such a language is not required).
| # | Date | Phase | Due/Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon Aug 28 | 0. the setup | |
| 2 | Mon Sep 11 | 1. the pitch | |
| 3 | Mon Sep 18 | 1. the pitch | |
| 4 | Mon Sep 25 | 1. the pitch | 2×3-min Research Pitches (presented in-class) |
| 5 | Mon Oct 2 | 2. the draft | |
| 6 | Mon Oct 9 | 2. the draft | |
| 7 | Mon Oct 16 | 2. the draft | |
| 8 | Mon Oct 23 | 2. the draft | |
| 9 | Mon Oct 30 | 2. the draft | |
| 10 | Mon Nov 6 | 2. the draft | First Draft of Paper (submitted online) |
| 11 | Mon Nov 13 | 3. the submission | |
| 12 | Mon Nov 27 | 4. the presentation | Final Draft of Paper (submitted online) |
| 13 | Mon Dec 4 | 4. the presentation | Final (15-min) Presentation (presented in-class) |
This course is split into five main phases:
- the setup: students will get set up with all of the tools necessary for writing a research paper in a quantitative discipline
- the pitch: students will craft a compelling, challenging research pitch for their term paper
- the draft: students will learn about and explore common tools for research paper writing as they prepare the draft for their term paper
- the submission: students will get direct feedback for completing their term paper and readying it for publication or submission to a journal
- the presentation: students will craft a compelling presentation detailing the research done in process of writing their term paper
Note that the schedule above may shift as we progress through the course. Updates to due dates will be communicated to you by your instructor or TA.
This is a live document. Please refresh this page periodically to check for updates.
Your grade in this course will consist of four components:
- Research pitch (10%—due Mon Sep 25)
- Term paper:
- Draft submission (25%—due Fri Oct. 27th)
- Final submission (25%—due Fri Dec. 1st)
- Research presentation (10%—due Mon Dec 4)
- Course participation (30%—assessed overall)
The last component (“course participation”) will be assessed by your instructor and TA based on the following factors:
- course attendance
- participation in course discussions
- regular check-ins & incremental deliverables (as directed by your TA)
The below is a non-exclusive list of policies governing course procedure.
If you have any questions or concerns, it is your responsibility to promptly bring them to the attention of the course instructor.
Due dates for assignments will be communicated to you in advances by your course instructor or TA. If you have questions or confusion about due dates or grading policy, please contact your instructor promptly.
Your instructor is the final word on matters governing this course (where not otherwise superseded by university policy.)
If you need an extension for an assignment, communicate this (in advance) to your instructor. We will make accommodations on a case-by-case basis. We will take into consideration whether your request for an extension was made at the last minute (≤48 hours prior to the due date,) and we reserve the right to deny your request for an extension in accordance with university policy.
Late assignments will be docked a grade for each day that they are late: an A will become an A-; an A- will become a B.
We expect attendance at all in-person sessions of this course.
This is an in-person course, and you are expected to attend all sessions in-person, unless you have requested and been granted accommodations (see below)
In general, absences are excused for illness, religious observation, participation in certain university activities, or there circumstances described in university's policy. Since we expect the core work of what you do in this class to be performed live in class, with your between-class assignments being about how to improve what you have done in class, participation during course sessions is essential to your performing well and getting the most out of the class. As a result, if you miss more than one class that not covered in one of the explicitly allowed reasons for excused absences, your grade for the class will be reduced.
It is your responsibility to inform the instructor or TA beforehand if you will miss a class. Students MUST communicate with their instructor or TA regarding expected or unexpected absences.
Note that JHU policy states:
Students should consult with their instructors and/or TAs when they have missed classes to explain the reasons for their absence and to stay on track in the course. Instructors establish their own policies regarding attendance, and it is the student's responsibility to know those policies. In certain courses, regular attendance is given special importance. These include foreign language courses and the introductory courses in the Writing Seminars and Expository Writing. Instructors in these courses may lower a student's grade for unexcused absences.
— JHU First Year Academic Guide 2023 ~ 2024
If you have any questions about this or any other policy, please contact your instructor.
We strive to create a welcoming, effective, and productive learning environment for all students.
Accommodations to course policy or procedure can be made for students on an individual basis, in accordance with university policy.
Please communicate with your instructor early in the semester to discuss any requests for accommodations to course policy or procedure. These will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, you may be asked to provide an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services, 385 Garland, (410) 516-4720, [email protected]
If you have any questions about this or any other policy, please contact your instructor.
Do not contact or CC the course external support on issues related to course accommodations.
Johns Hopkins provides a university-wide website for information on a wide variety of services to support student wellness—wellness.jhu.edu
These include resources for anxiety, stress, depression, and other mental health related concerns. The university provides resources such as the JHU Counseling Center at 3003 North Charles Street in Suite S-200 (phone # 410-516-8278) for students struggling with issues related to mental health.
Unlike many other courses you may have taken, this course strongly encourages the use of technology tools, including AI-based writing assistants such as ChatGPT.
You are encouraged to use such tools as directed by your instructor and TA.
However, there may be circumstances where the use of these tools may constitute violations of this course's or the university's academic integrity policy.
Please confer with your instructor or TA if you have questions or are unsure about the use of a tool in the completion of your course work.
This course requires the use of a computer to complete course assignments.
You will be asked to bring a laptop computer with you to each class session.
If you do not have access to a laptop computer, please contact your instructor or TA for additional guidance.
Your instructor, teaching assistant, and external support will be responsive over email during regular business hours (9 AM ~ 5 PM US/Eastern) during the school week (Monday ~ Friday.)
We may take up to 24 hours or more to respond to your e-mails; you should not expect a prompt response outside of the times above (e.g., on the weekend.)
In addition to Github, we will use e-mail to communicate with you about this course. Please ensure that you regularly check your e-mail and ensure that you can see notifications from Github.
Do note that your instructor has research and instructional obligations that necessitate out-of-town travel and may not be respond promptly to your e-mails.
If you need to contact your instructor or teaching assistant about assignments, absences, or grade-related matters, please e-mail us well in advance.
The external support for this class is a resource you may use for additional guidance, feedback, or technical support. They are not affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. Do not contact them about issues related to personal matters, absences, assignments, or grading.
In this course, you must abide by the university's policy on academic ethics: Homewood Undergraduate Academic Ethics Policy
Undergraduate students … assume a duty to conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the University’s mission as an institution of higher learning. Students are obliged to refrain from acts which they know, or under circumstances have reason to know, violate the academic integrity of the University.
Academic misconduct is prohibited by this policy. Academic misconduct is any action or attempted action that may result in creating an unfair academic advantage for oneself or an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any other member or members of the academic community. This includes a wide variety of behaviors such as cheating, plagiarism, altering academic documents or transcripts, gaining access to materials before they are meant to be available, and helping another individual to gain an unfair academic advantage.
University policy dictates procedures for suspected violates of academic integrity. Potential sanctions include formal warnings, lowering of course grade, university probation, or suspension from university.
Please confer with your instructor immediately if you questions or uncertainty arise regarding issues of academic ethics.
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