ECO474 Behavioral Economics: The Research Project
For this course all students are required to conduct an original
research project resulting in a poster presentation and a formal
paper. As a Critical Thinking Course, students are required to
make a formal poster presentation on a designated day toward the
end of the semester along with students from other CTC
designated courses. In addition to this presentation, students
are required to turn in a written paper at the end of the
semester.
The Research Project
Students may work in groups of two to generate a testable
hypothesis that has been independently generated through careful
study of the course material.
Having developed a hypothesis, students will generate their own
data from laboratory or field experiments. Projects will need a
basic IRB approval once an experimental protocol is developed.
Once the IRB has approved the project, subjects can be recruited
and the experiment can be conducted.
Once data from the experiment has been collected, students need
to analyze the results and present the results in a formal
presentation and paper.
Here are the requirements in
bullet format:
a) formulate an interesting and testable hypothesis;
b) develop an experimental protocol;
c) recruit subjects;
d) conduct the experiment;
e) analyze the results;
f) relate the results to the existing literature; and
g) submit a final paper/make a
presentation.
Tips on how to do an empirical research project
How to get and develop an Idea:
One option is to investigate some aspect of economic behavior by
varying the environment in which subjects operate (for example,
sellers may compete in one environment and then be allowed to
collude in another). Alternatively, you might examine
differences in behavior across populations (for example, are
women more altruistic than men? or are children more or less
rational than adults?).
How to design and conduct an Experiment
How and when to apply for IRB approval
The Criteria on which your presentation and paper will be graded: Rubrics
Examples of "Best Practice" Papers from past semseters