Applied Economics Research Course Honours

Course goals

Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student is able to:

• To independently develop a research proposal consisting of a problem identification, research question, sub-questions (if applicable), and a proposed research methodology.
• Use the key concepts and theories of their field in economics and recognise the institutional and spatial implications in the context of their research question
• Use the comparison with theories to put their research question into perspective or confront the economic concepts with approaches from another field and minor
• Perform simple quantitative and empirical research or theoretical research. In particular, the focus is on the ability to define and formulate a problem, collect, process and interpret data, and present the analysis and chosen direction of resolution
• Reflect on the development and state of the academic skills

Content

Please note:
Enrolment is only possible during the regular enrolment dates.

Contents
The 'Honours Applied Economics Research Course' is the concluding third-year full-time course and it builds on the knowledge and skills acquired during the economics study. During the 3-year Bachelor programme, students (should) have acquired sufficient economic knowledge and academic skills to complete their bachelor studies and obtain the corresponding academic degree. As a final proof, they need to demonstrate in the Honours Applied Economics Research course that they are able to do a small independent research project, utilising the acquired knowledge and skills. Students who follow a Bachelor in Economics and Business Economics with a dedicated minor do a research project in which two disciplines are combined: economics and the minor of the student's choice. Students without a dedicated minor do a research project that focuses on a purely economic issue. In all cases, the research should meet academic criteria.

Honours students need to develop their own research proposal, relating to real world economic challenges. The topic of their proposal should align with the research conducted in the four sections of the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.), namely: Applied Economics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, and Finance. From each section, there is, at minimum, one dedicated supervisor available to supervise the students. Students will be informed by email how and when to register for a supervisor. The number of spots available per supervisor is limited. Students first select a supervisor before developing their research proposal. The research proposal is developed independently (i.e., without the support from the supervisor). Before they start to work on their research proposal, they will receive a workshop on writing a research proposal. The supervisor provide feedback on the research proposal to support the development of the research plan.

The supervisor organizes research groups. In these research groups, students will present their work, give feedback on each other and write an individual bachelor thesis. Students are allowed to find a thesis supervisor outside of the pool of supervisors that is available but only if they obtain permission from the course coordinator in advance. Students then still participate in one of the research groups.

Academic skills
This course focuses on all academic skills, but the following two in particular:
 
Information processing

• Knowledge of potential sources for literature and data and the skills to explore these independently for a comprehensive research project
• Being able to detect plagiarism and being able to avoid any kind of plagiarism
• Providing correct references in text in a comprehensive research project
• Providing a correct reference list for a comprehensive research project
• Being able to work with data software, such as Excel, NVIVO, R, Phyton, or Stata
• Being able to present self-constructed data in a correct and useful manner in a comprehensive research project

Academic research

• Clear and convincing anchoring, relevance, accuracy and functionality of the problem definition
• Clear, consistent and accurate research design
• Selection of main available sources on the subject; critical evaluation of the literature consulted
• If empirical research has been done; in line with the instructions provided in Econometrics
• Replicable and falsifiable research, well described arguments, in line with the introduction, with correct references
• Strong link between the research and the relevant theories
• Clear answer to the problem statement, based on research results, good discussion of the conclusions, in consistency with the introduction and analyses

Format
Students will develop a research proposal, a research plan (i.e., a significantly improved and more detailed version of the proposal), execute an independent research project, and write an individual research paper. In addition, they participate in a research group. The course is organized such that students receive frequent supervision and feedback during the different stages of the research cycle. There are plenary and individual meetings.

• In the plenary meetings students present and discuss their research progress, give constructive and critical feedback to their fellow students and respond adequately to the received feedback. The plenary meetings are chaired by the supervisor(s) and attended by all the students of the group.
• In the individual meetings with the supervisor students will discuss the content and direction of their research more in depth.

Effort requirements

• Attendance and active participation in all research group meetings
• Timely submission of the research proposal
• Timely submission of a research plan
• Research proposal is assessed as sufficient
• Research plan is assessed as sufficient

Please note that the course is full-time. Effort requirements are strictly enforced: only in case the course coordinator has approved in advance, students can deviate from the above requirements.

Prerequisites
The student must have 90 EC in September of the academic year in which the student wants to follow the Applied Economics Research Course;

• Before the start of the course the students must have passed 'Econometrics' and two level 3 courses of which at least one needs to be an economics course;
• Pass of academic skills assignment.