1.   MOTIVATION FOR THE REPORT

As economists, we need to make sense of data all the time. This not only means that we need to be able to present data given to us, but it also means that we need to be able to select the     most appropriate data to use to address/describe a given problem and motivate our choices. In other words, we need to make choices and motivate them all the time. This report is a step in  your training toward becoming a professional economist. You need to make choices and         motivate them, as you will need to do in your profession. Since this is probably the first          statistical report that you prepare, we help you by providing the structure that you need to       follow when preparing the report in section 3 below. Additionally, as an economist dealing    with data, you need to be able to process a lot of information when you receive briefs on what you need to do when preparing reports, and you need to follow instructions thoroughly when  preparing a statistical report. This is why part of the grade on this report (see section 4 on       marking) marks how well you follow our instructions below. For this report, you can pretend to be an analyst working at the OECD, and suppose that you are asked by your boss to follow the brief below.

2.   DATA AND TOPIC OF THE REPORT

Use data from the OECD to study differences between 2 countries in 3 Agriculture and      Fisheries indicators for the years 2010-2019 (you can study OECD or non-OECD countries, or compare one OECD country with one non-OECD country).

You can find Agriculture and Fisheries -related indicators on the following website:

https://stats.oecd.org/

In the website linked above on the menu on the left, there is a section called “Agriculture and Fisheries” . If you click on the “+” sign next to the word “Agriculture and Fisheries” the menu expands and you can see that there are many sub-menus each with a “+” sign next to it, and if you expand each of the sub-menus you will see that there are many indicators you can choose from.

For instance, just as an example, after you click the “+” sign to the left of the section called  “Agriculture and Fisheries” you can see that a submenu is called “Fisheries and Aquaculture statistics” (you are by all means NOT restricted to study indicators in the “Fisheries and Aquaculture statistics” submenu). If you click the “+” sign next to the submenu “Fisheries and Aquaculture statistics” you can see several indicators.

Please, find a screenshot of this just as guidance (See, the “Fisheries and Aquaculture           statistics” submenu has indicators on “Employment in fishing, aquaculture, and processing”, “Marine landings”, etc…)

When you click on any of the indicators a table opens in the middle of the page.                    Be mindful that each selection you make is a different indicator and you ONLY are allowed to select 3 indicators to compare the two countries. This limit is intended to help you:           remember that you only have 1,000 words and that you need to motivate everything you do, and you also need to explain trends in the indicators that you have selected for the period     under study.

Finally, consider the area in the screenshot above that I have circled in red. If you click the arrow in the circle you will be shown how the statistics in the Table in the middle of the    screenshot are calculated.

Now that you have understood how the selection of the statistics work, you are welcome to explore the different sub-menus of the “Agriculture and Fisheries” section to understand    which statistics are available for which countries, and start thinking about which indicators you want to use. To use the data you need to download them. You can do so for each Table by selecting the option “Export” at the top of the Table where there is the option to export data to Excel.

-From Excel, you can prepare graphs and/ or prepare tables for the three selected indicators for the two countries to place in your report.

-You need to motivate why you have decided to compare differences in those three indicators for the two countries that you have selected (you need to do some research on the two            countries and those indicators) so that it is clear why it makes sense that you have selected     those 2 countries and those indicators to compare.

-You also need to see whether there is something that happened in the countries you have       considered in the period you are looking at that could potentially explain trends in the             indicators that you have selected to report. Again, you must not get any other data (and please DO NOT GET other data), but you can, given what may have happened in the countries,        come up with some hypotheses that could explain the pattern in the data and say which data   you would like to have to study more in-depth the pattern shown by the indicators that you     have selected in the countries in the period considered.

- For a number of countries some indicators are missing for various years. As a rule of thumb, you should not select an indicator that has more than 4 missing years in the period 2010-        2019. If one or more years are missing for one or more of the indicators that you are using for the period 2010-2019, you must clearly indicate in the report which years are missing and      why it still makes sense to focus on that indicator for your analysis for the countries that you  have selected despite the missing data.

3.   STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

This section provides you with guidance on how you MUST structure the report, as well as some guidance on what counts and what does not count towards the word limit. In other   words, the report needs to have all the sections detailed below.

You can have the tables/graphs embedded in the report close to the text that refers to     them or at the end of the report. In this second case, you need to put the figures               (graphs) first and then the tables. You need to refer (meaning explain) in the text of the  report to every graph and table that you place in the report (in other words, there is no  redundant figure/table). The section below needs to be in that order (Title, Table of        Contents, List of Figures and Tables, Executive summary, Introduction and Motivation, Statistical Analysis, Directions for Future Analysis/Policy Recommendation/s, and          References)

-Title: make it informative of your analysis: the words in the title do not count towards the word limit of the report.

-Table of Contents: see any report by OECD (for example) and do similarly with your       sections: write the section number, the title of the section, and the page where the section is:

the Table of Contents does not count towards the word limit of the report.

-List of Figures and Tables: Here you write the list of figures and tables-namely their titles- as well as the pages where the reader can find those. The list of figures and Tables does not count towards the word limit for the report.

-Executive Summary: This is a crucial part of your report. It is most likely the only thing      that the busiest person will read. So you need to summarize in bullet-like points the main take home points of your analysis as well as the main recommendations. This part does count      towards the word limit of the report.

-Introduction and Motivation: Here you explain why the topic of the report is important,  and why you decided to study the two countries that you have picked, as well as the reasons why you decided to concentrate on the indicators you have decided to concentrate on. This part does count towards the word limit of the report.

-Statistical analysis: In this part, you present your analysis of the data. You will comment on what your Tables and/or graphs intend to represent and you will motivate why you decided to choose such a representation of the data. So, for instance, you need to motivate why a graph   is there (what is its purpose), as well as what does it show that the reader should care about    on the topic of the report. The same goes for the Tables you might decide to include.  This     will feed into your executive summary. This part does count towards the word limit of the report.

-Direction for further analysis and Policy Recommendation/s: Here you build upon what you find in the section/s on Statistical Analysis and you discuss what your findings mean for government action and what else is needed to study to better understand the trends you have looked at (is there need to collect other data? If so why?). This part will feed into the            executive summary as well. This part does count towards the word limit of the report.

-References: Of course, a well-researched statistical story has looked for good sources, so you are encouraged to use references in your report (you can also cite statistics from your   references that help you strengthen your arguments). References do not count toward the word limit of the report.