the thesis - harvard economics...the thesis: putting it all together february 6, 2019 the ec 985...
TRANSCRIPT
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The Thesis: Putting it All Together
February 6, 2019The Ec 985 Team
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Part 1: Logistics
Part 2: Finishing Your Thesis
Today
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Formatting− See “Formatting Guidelines” online
Submitting (and Celebrating!)− One hard copy, one PDF− Free binder @ Thesis Relaxation Lunch, 2/27, 11am-1pm− Champagne Celebration! 4-6pm, 3/14.
Grading− Two readers: 1 might be your advisor. Other assigned by Ec Dept.− You won’t know your readers until early May when we distribute grades and comments.
Please don’t ask.
The Unmentionable− Sorry, we have to mention. Honors Exam, 4/10. Just to have on your radar!
AM/Ec− Two readers: 1 is your advisor, 1 assigned by Ec Dept. You do *not* need to find your own
2nd reader.− Coordinate with your 985 instructor about how you’ll work together March 14-29.
Part 1: Logistics
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Part 2: Finishing Your Thesis
w/Professor Jeffrey Miron
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Finishing Your Thesis
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Outline
• How long should it be?
• What is the standard structure?
– Do you need a model?
• What is important? Not Important?
• How much detail?
• Formatting
• Stata, miscellaneous
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How Long Should Your Thesis Be?
• Long enough.
• The length of a standard journal article.
• It depends.
• 45-75 pages.
• But:
– Less is frequently more.
– Long enough to do the job, but no longer!
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Standard Structure
• Introduction:
– This sets the hook
• Review of Earlier Work (Critique)
• Model: Do you need one?
• Estimation and Data
• Results
• Conclusion
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What Is Important?What is Not Important?
• Important: – Convincing your readers that you have done
something that is:– New– Interesting– Correct
• Not:– Getting Large t-statistics– Solving every problem related to your literature
• Rather, you want a contribution to knowledge; a step, not necessarily a huge leap
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How Much Detail?
• Enough to convince the reader of your conclusions.
• The exact amount depends in part on the nature of your results.
• Case 1: really consistent results– Then modest amount in text, rest in appendices or
footnotes.
• Case 2: messy, conflicting results:– Then much more in text.
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How Much Detail, continued
• Similar considerations arise in describing your data.
• If it’s a standard, familiar data set (GDP and M for a bunch of countries), then you don’t need a ton of blather.
• If it’s something brand new that you constructed, you have to explain really clearly exactly how you collected the data.
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Formatting the Final Product
• See the Thesis portion of the Department’s web site for formatting guidelines:
• https://economics.harvard.edu/senior-thesis
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Stata, Miscellaneous
• See Kiran’s document on the web site.
• RefWorks/EndNote
• Writing Economics handbook