Research Skills for Economics Students

Student research projects, at intermediate and postgraduate levels, are increasingly important components of an economics education, both as elements of individual courses, and as a stand-alone requirement. Students generally regard these requirements as amongst the most challenging and rewarding of their education in economics. Instructors value greatly the deeper engagement with the discipline of economics which they encourage in students. Such valuable outcomes require a good deal of commitment from students and teachers, and resources to support their efforts. This text is a guide for students, and offer options to instructors, in undertaking such projects, with a clear view in mind of the distinctive learning objectives which typically motivate the requirements for them in economics. These include the desire to deepen students' appreciation of, and competence in economic ways of thinking and of assessing evidence, and sets of transferable skills in research, report preparation and writing. The text can be used to structure an introduction to the research process in economics (for example in a short 'research skills' course) and/or to accompany a specific student research project in economics. Each chapter includes exercises and activities designed for these two main applications.