Choose a topic and hypothesis of your choice, find an appropriate dataset, estimate a          regression model, and present your model and results in a written academic research essay. You can choose any topic and dataset (with at least 20 observations) that may interest you.

If you need some inspiration, https://ourworldindata.org/ has fascinating long-run datasets,   but you are welcome to use any data to answer any question you are interested in (for            example: does smoking affect babies’ birthweights? Has the introduction of airbags/seatbelts lowered car accident deaths? Has the BC carbon tax lowered CO2 emissions? etc.). The         Wooldridge package in R also has many available datasets. You may also find the Dalhousie Economics Research Guide useful:                                                                                            https://dal.ca.libguides.com/c.php?g=257039&p=1717810

Present your results in the form of a short, written essay (maximum length of 5 pages + references + tables and figures).

The essay should be an academic piece of writing (avoid casual language, bullet points, and  do not copy and paste R-code or output directly). The essay should follow a clear and           coherent structure. Please refer to the writing appendices posted on our course page for more information on formatting your paper.  Your grade will be determined on not only your         econometric analysis, but how you present it.

Group Work Expectations: You may choose to work individually, in a group of 2, or in a group of 3. No other group sizes will be permitted under any circumstances. When you      submit your topic approval, you will declare who, if anyone, you are working with.

If you choose to work as part of a group, you will need to:

•   Submit the group contract with the Topic Approval Milestone

•   Keep track of your time and individual contributions and submit a summary with each milestone starting with the literature review. Points will be deducted if this is missing, or it is not completed satisfactorily. A template will be provided on our course page.

•   Understand that all group members must review each submission before handing it in. Each member of the group is responsible for the submission in its entirety.

•   Understand that if there is a question of Academic Integrity, the whole group will be held accountable.

Deadlines and Expectations: An Overview

Topic Approval (5%) October 3rd

By 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 3rd you need to submit a completed Topic Approval     Template on Brightspace.  You will need to clearly state your topic, show a link to your         data/discuss your variables, and decide whether you are working as an individual or group.    If too many students have the same research topic – you may be asked to choose a new topic. Priority will be given to those who submit earliest. You need to choose an original topic (you cannot re-use a previous research project).