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ES50073: Research methods in economics & finance

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2014/5
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Economics
Further information on credits Credits: 6
Further information on unit levels Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Semester 1
Semester 2
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • COURSEWORK (CW 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: ES50073A RESIT COURSEWORK (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
The aim of this unit is:
* To provide students with generic skills necessary to undertake advanced level research.
* To enable students to locate appropriate literature for a dissertation.
* To develop skills in obtaining and organising suitable data.
* To develop the ability to identify and critically reflect upon appropriate analytical techniques.
* To develop the ability to use Stata and Matlab to conduct economic research.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the unit students will have developed a comprehensive understanding of how to formulate and develop an original research question. They will have acquired a good understanding of how to conduct bibliographic searches, how to collect data and how to use Stata and Matlab programming languages.

Skills:
Ability to formulate a research question.
Ability to analyse and manage data and conduct appropriate bibliographical searches.
To demonstrate how statistical methods and relevant theory can be applied in the context of specific problems.
Ability to work independently.
Programming skills.

Content:
Part 1 of the unit will consist of a summary of the overall structure of the research process. Topics covered include: searching for appropriate literature, sources of economic and financial data, research ethics, working with survey data, plagiarism, acknowledging sources and referencing conventions, finding a supervisor and managing the dissertation process.
Part 2 of the unit will introduce students to Stata, emphasising the commands that are needed to import data from various sources, arrange and combine datasets and conduct empirical research in economics.
Part 3 of the unit will introduce students to Matlab, emphasising basic techniques such as solving linear and non-linear equations, numerical integration and differentiation and methods of numerical optimisation based on existing mathematical and statistical models.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

ES50073 is available for Auditing on the following programmes:

Department of Economics

ES50073 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Economics
Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2014/15 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2015/16 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2014/15.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.