Research Project
A major purpose of this class is to help you develop testable hypothesis, measurement,
design and analytical methods. In the submission, you’ll design an empirical investigation in
which you perform analysis on data and test hypotheses that interest you. The submission
must reflect what you have learnt from the class.
The assignment has a maximum word count of 1000 words (excluding references, tables,
contents page, footnotes, charts, graphs, figures).
Data
You are free to choose any data that are of your interest.
Goal of the project
This task builds from your project design and develops your skills in analysis of quantitative
research results.
Format of the project
– Title page
– List of contents
– Introduction (100 words)
– Methodology (100-200 words)
– Sample description (150-250 words)
– Data description (150-250 words)
– Hypothesis tests (150-250 words)
– Conclusion (100 words)
– References
– Appendix
Criteria
The introduction and methodology sections will be brief and the bulk of the report will focus
on the sample and data analysis.
Your submission must also contain a complete Methods section. This section must include all
of the important choices you made about how to conduct your research, and the
corresponding rationales for those choices. It must also include most of the details of your
proposed procedure. The methods should be spelled out so clearly that another graduate
student could pick up your work and know how to carry out your research.
The sampling and data description section should include discussion of your sampling
concerns, statistical characteristics of your key variables, relationship between your key
variables. You should also use diagrams to assist your analysis
In the hypothesis section, you should carefully describe how you will analyse the data from
your research design in a way that clearly tests your hypotheses. This should include the
following:
– Formulate the hypothesis
– Decision rule
– Details of your testing process
Please note that all diagrams and testing should be performed using STATA, and STATA
codes used should be included in the appendix.