Transcript Research Seminar Thursday, 1500 – 1645, room C

Research and Writing Seminar
Thursday, 1500 – 1635, room B
To find an up-to-date version of the schedule
and to read the papers check the website
www.wne.uw.edu.pl/seminar
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Coordinators:
- Prof. Andrzej Cieślik
- Dr. Paweł Kaczmarczyk
- Dr. Michał Krawczyk
- Dr. Anna Kukla-Gryz
- Dr. Grzegorz Kula
- Dr. Joanna Tyrowicz
- Dr. Leszek Wincenciak
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Objective of the course:
Give you basis for your own
research.
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The goals for each student are following:
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Gain exposure to state-of-the-art research in economics,
Become familiar with key analytical tools and modeling skills,
Develop academic writing skills,
Develop critical thinking and evaluation skills,
Gain exposure to useful presentation techniques.
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Writing reviews
• Why do you need to do this (except for „because we say
so”)?
– Thinking is nice, writing shows results
– Organization is key – no better way to test it
– Criticizing is a skill – not each critique merits
• What for do you do this?
– WYDIWYL (= what you do is what you learnt)
– Discipline helps getting nice ideas (for thesis too!)
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Writing reviews – how do you do this
Necessary steps:
1. Read the paper and prepare your comments – in the week
before the seminar (this we do not check).
2. Ask questions and present your comments – at the seminar
(this is where we evaluate your potential).
3. Discuss the first draft – one week after the seminar (first
evaluation of your work).
4. Submit the final version – two/four weeks after the seminar
(final evaluation of your work).
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Step 1 - preparation
Read the paper and prepare your comments
(you may want to identify first, what is of interest for you)
• Read the paper to be presented and think about it.
• Find some time to read more literature in the field.
• Make comments that include your reasons explaining why you
like (or do not like) the paper, your suggestions and concerns.
• Make a list of specific questions you would like to ask to the
presenter at the seminar.
• In addition: think about possible extensions that could be
made to the paper.
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Step 2 – face the dragon
Ask questions and present your comments
• Use the knowledge of both paper and presentation to be sure
your accusation/praise is grounded (question relevant).
• Speakers are here for you – ask them all possible (relevant!)
questions.
• Use the opportunity of speaker presence to discuss with
them your suggestions/questions/ideas on the theme.
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Step 3 – first attempts
Discussing the first draft
• Prepare your first draft (not free notes, but a coherent draft)
and send it you your coordinator.
• Set up a meeting to discuss vices and advantages of your work.
• You get feedback on both substance and exposition.
• Listen to our comments, but do not fear presenting your own
opinions, views and suggestions.
• Give us the time to give you the time (send drafts by e-mail in
advance, set up appointments, etc.).
• We like you – if we cannot read it, it means you really need to
revise it.
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Step 4 – salvation
Submitting the final version
• There is a point in Step 3 – make best use of it.
• Make sure your structure is clear and coherent.
• Make sure sentences make sense (have beginnings, ends, etc.).
• Use spell checker, mind editing, complete bibliography, etc.
• We have many students: make sure there is one main reason for
which we should want to read this paper.
• Papers submitted by email only
– E-mail title: Name, surname plus number of review
– File name: surname_draft_number or surname_final_number
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Students’ obligations
Winter semester: 5 critical reviews
- Purely descriptive, and not exceeding 10 pages,
- Due date: 2 weeks after the seminar presentation.
Summer semester: 4 critical reviews with extension
- Reviews must include an analytical extension of the reviewed paper,
- Reviews should not exceed 20 pages,
- Due date: four weeks after the seminar presentation,
- Can work in teams of two.
By the end of August:
• Write your own research proposal for the master thesis (not graded but
indispensable).
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Each review should include:
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Title page with abstract
Introduction with motivation, intuition, goals and structure
Brief literature survey
Critical analysis of the theoretical framework AND/OR
statistical methodology
Critical analysis of theoretical AND/OR empirical findings
In the winter semester: a list of possible future extensions
In the spring semester: extended theoretical model or new
empirical results
Concluding section with your main points summarized
Bibliography
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Introduction
• Explain, what is your motivation for reviewing this paper
(saying ”it is interesting” is not enough).
• Describe what the paper is about, maybe mention its main
points.
• State the goals you want to achieve in the review (”reviewing
the paper and criticizing it” is too general for the goal of a
review) – they should be the same as your criticism
afterwards.
• TEASE the reader.
• Be organized and clear.
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Literature review:
• Locate the paper in the field. We do not need you to repeat
what was reviewed in the original paper (it is not an analysis
of what literature is used in the paper and how it is
presented).
• Show how you understand the field and the contribution of
this particular paper.
• Link this section to you criticism (ground your criticism in the
field).
• You do not need to read everything nor summarize all the
papers you have found.
• The idea is to compare the problems, methods and results,
and not to describe other papers in details.
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Critical analysis:
• Do not describe theory or methodology in detail, unless you
have comments or opinions of your own.
• If you have them, include in the paper sections on a critical
analysis of the theoretical framework and/or a critical analysis
of statistical methodology.
• If you have nothing to say about them, drop these sections,
but say a few words about theory and methodology in the
introduction.
• You have to include a critical analysis of theoretical
and empirical findings.
• You should present arguments supporting your opinions.
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Extensions
In the winter semester:
• Possible future extensions = only suggestions.
• You have to describe:
- what the suggested extension is,
- the intuition behind it,
- what result you hope to obtain,
- why it is significant,
- its’ feasibility.
You should think of at least two possible extensions.
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Extensions
In the summer semester:
• Theoretical or econometric extensions of the reviewed papers:
- a step further in the research described in the reviewed paper,
- solutions of some special cases,
- alternative methods of estimation,
- tests which were not conducted in the original research,
- alternative assumptions, approaches,
- etc.
• Only one extension per review (no need to do completely new
research, although you may do that if you wish).
• You may work in teams of two.
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Some really useful tips:
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Write a review – not a summary (do not rewrite the
reviewed paper)
Even genious points are unclear if you are not clear, neat
and organised
GIGO does not merit our appreciation (without main
theme, there can be no good review)
Make yourself heard by being interesting and right – not
necessarily critical or controversial
Not each question needs to be asked – not each criticism
merits being written down
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Papers evaluation and final grades
Each paper is evaluated on the basis of:
• Clarity of exposition – 20%
• Academic writing quality – 30%
• Substantive quality – 50%
In the summer semester these three points constitute 50% of
the grade, while the extension yields the remaining 50%.
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Papers evaluation and final grades
• For each paper: maximum 10 points,
• One additional point for a sensible question during
the discussion after the presentation,
• In order to get this point you have to introduce
yourself,
• Be on time: late submission cuts your points (minus
one point for the delay of one week),
• The final grade in the semester is an average of the
points from the reviews.
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Research proposal:
• Introduces and describes the subject,
• DOES NOT HAVE TO BE your eventual master thesis
• Should not exceed 10 pages:
– Describe the problem,
– Explain why it is worth studying,
– Say how you will conduct your research and what you plan to find out
from this excercise,
– Include a short bibliography of basic literature,
• Shows that you are interested in the subject,
• Shows that you know the problem enough to start the
research
• Shows that you are able to write the thesis.
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Contact details
Prof. Andrzej Cieślik
Room: 409
Office hours: Monday, 1315 - 1415
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Paweł Kaczmarczyk
Room: 211
Office hours: Wednesday, 1500-1630
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Michał Krawczyk
Room: 214
Office hours: Monday, 1805 – 1900
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Anna Kukla-Gryz
Room: 214
Office hours: 1315 - 1415
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Grzegorz Kula
Room: 106
Office hours: Thursday, 1355 - 1455
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Joanna Tyrowicz
Room: 5
Office hours: Thursday, 1600 – 1700
e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Leszek Wincenciak
Room: 409
Office hours: Monday, 1000 – 1130
e-mail: [email protected]
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