ECON 200: Basic Economic Issues (Honors Section)

• Online quizzes
• Problem Sets
• Exams
• Final Paper
  • Comments on Writing

I would like you to describe the effects of your chosen shock. How does it change prices and quantities traded? Who benefits? Who loses? Can you estimate the sizes of these changes? If not, what information would you need to do so?

In your research for this project, I encourage you to make use of library resources here at the University. Early in the semester, I recommend paying a visit to the reference librarians, who specialize in helping library users find the resources they need for a particular research project. In particular, you may find it helpful to know that the UA Library has electronic databases of newspaper and magazine articles available online. I have had good luck with both Lexis/Nexis and Academic Search Elite, but I haven't yet personally tried the other indexes listed.

In addition to secondary research using sources available at the library, I also encourage you to do primary research by visiting stores to check prices or examine products in person, calling up the companies to ask questions about their product or their sales figures, and/or by interviewing or surveying representative buyers or sellers in your market.

Early in the semester, I will ask you to choose your partner and your topic. You will turn in a 1-2 page project proposal describing the market you plan to research. Be careful to define exactly what you think the market is ("the market for Mexican restaurant meals within 2 miles of the University" is probably a better and more specific topic than "the market for Mexican food," for example). Explain why you are defining the market the way you are defining it (geographic limits, what types of variation in products, etc.). You should also explain what you think is interesting about your market, and where you plan to get the information you will need. Will you use library sources? Observational studies? Interviews with store managers?

Midway through the semester, I will ask you to hand in a first draft of your paper, and we will discuss these papers in class in order to get ideas for revision. (I may decide to repeat this process and require another draft to be discussed in class.) The final paper will be due at the end of the semester, and it is the quality of the final submitted paper that will determine the grade. Follow this link to see examples of excellent papers submitted in previous semesters.

Please make sure to give your paper a title, and please number all the pages. You can easily do autonumbering of pages in a word processor, and this will make it easier for me to give you comments via email. I also prefer that you use footnotes (again, easy in a word processor) to cite your sources of information, as I find footnotes don't disrupt the flow of the paper as much as the standard technique of using parentheses.

In general, both members of a pair will receive the same grade for their project. However, I reserve the right to give differing grades in cases where it becomes clear that one student is free-riding on the other's work. If you feel unhappy at any point with your partner's contribution to the project, please email me so that I can do something about it (the earlier, the better).

Comments on writing

Your papers should be presented in a professional manner: typed, and easy to read. The text of each paper should be well written, with any appropriate graphs and tables included. Plan to complete the paper in time to have a friend classmate proofread it for you, so that you can make revisions before turning it in. As noted, you should plan for the text of the paper to be five to ten pages long. This page count is somewhat flexible, because what I care about most is not length but the quality of your research and your analysis.

I consider writing about economics to be an important skill, and I hope to help you improve on your writing in this class. One way I intend to do this is to hold in-class writing workshops on days when your drafts are due. On days when I have announced that drafts are due, I would therefore like you to bring three copies of your assignment to class: one to turn in to me for credit, and two to discuss with your classmates during class.

If you would like advice or clarifications about any aspect of the project during the course of the semester, please don't hesitate to ask me.

Academic Dishonesty and Academic Misconduct

Academic dishonesty occurs with any action or attempted action designed to create an unfair academic advantage or disadvantage for any member(s) of the academic community. Various forms of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, and/or plagiarism. All forms of academic dishonesty are subject to sanctions under the Code of Academic Integrity, which may include: written warning, reduction in grade for work involved, disciplinary probation, loss of credit for work involved, failing grade in the course, suspension, and/or expulsion.

Academic misconduct is defined as any behavior not conforming to prevailing standards or rules within the academic community. Various forms of academic misconduct include (but are not limited to) disruptive behavior, threatening behavior, and/or the theft or damage of University property. All forms of academic misconduct are subject to sanctions under the Code of Conduct, which may include: classroom conduct, interim action, program/support, organizational sanctions, restricted access to university property, administrative hold, warning, probation, suspension, and/or expulsion.

For more specific examples of academic dishonesty, academic misconduct, and how to avoid such behaviors, please visit the Academic Integrity Student Resource Guide.

Students who plagiarize on a paper in my course can expect to receive a severe penalty. The exact penalty may depend on circumstances, but my standard penalty has been a failing grade for the course (even on a first offense). Please see this document for more details about what constitutes plagiarism.

While I encourage students to work together on problem sets, I do expect independent writeups of this work. Evidence of outright copying will also result in penalties, starting with a grade of zero on the assignment and becoming more severe with repeated offenses.

Schedule

This schedule is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in advance.