Econ 304 Econometrics Project Assignment 3

January 11, 2021

Descriptive Statistics
In a 10-page (including graphs and tables), double-spaced, standard-font essay, describe your data source, explain the cleaning you performed, provide summary statistics, and discuss interesting characteristics of the variables.
1. Source: Provide the sources (full name and web address) and confirm that your data source is valid. (For example, a data source is valid if it is a government agency, an international organization, a respected think tank, etc.) Data may be from one or more sources.
2. Cleaning: Explain how you cleaned your data. Show that you have carefully cleaned the data to avoid measurement errors or selection issues. (Examples of cleaning include: combining two data sources to add variables you need, changing household-level data to state-level data to match with another state-level data set, selecting a specific year or region and dropping remaining observations, etc.)
3. Summary Statistics: Describe your data and key variables.
a. State the construction of the data and variables: it is a country-level or individual-level data? Are the repeated observations per individual by year, for example? When is the sample period? In what region was the data collected? Which variables are quantitative and which variables are qualitative? What is your dependent variable? Which variables are explanatory and control variables?
b. Provide a table of summary statistics that include mean, standard deviation, number of observations, min, and max for quantitative variables. Make sure that the averages and dispersions in the table make sense. (For example, if the average income in your data is 150,000 then maybe there are some weird values or the sample doesn’t represent the general public.) Briefly discuss the distribution of variables. Add a histogram if it helps you discuss distributions.
4. Interesting facts: Explain the relationships between key variables using a box-and-whisker diagram, scatter plot or any other graph of your choice. Point out any unique or interesting characteristics of the data. (For example, are there more females than males in the sample? Do developed countries indeed have higher GDP per capita on average?)
• The dataset needs to contain more than five variables excluding identifier variables.
• Due date: Friday, April 3 at 6 pm.
• Submit the essay via Canvas.
• This assignment is worth 15 points.
• Grading criteria
1. Proper grammar and spelling
2. Correct use of terminology from class
3. Description of data sources
4. Description of data cleaning performed
5. Description of summary statistics useful for understanding the data
6. Clear and easy-to-read table and figures
7. Careful discussion of interesting facts

Econ 304 Econometrics Project Assignment 3
• How to earn extra credit
1. Meet with a virtual Writing Fellow before submitting the assignment and revise your draft based on the consultation.
Econ 304 Econometrics
2. At the end of your essay, copy and paste the following and answer each question in two to three sentences.
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Post Consultation Self-Assessment
1. What was the most useful feedback you received during your Writing Fellow visit?
2. How, where, and why did you use that feedback to improve your essay?
3. In what ways are you satisfied (or not) with the results of the changes you made?
Below is a message from the center for teaching and learning regarding how to meet with Writing Fellows.
As you adjust to online learning, Writing Fellows are still available to meet with you 1:1 via Zoom.
If you would like to make an appointment, please email ctl@hws.edu with the following information, and we will connect you with a Writing Fellow.
o When (what day) would you like to meet? What time zone are you in?
o What course is your written assignment for?
o Preferred Writing Fellow, if any
o A copy of your essay and/or prompt
o Any issues or questions you would like to focus on
Please let us know if you have any questions, and we look forward to supporting you on Zoom!