From the collection of academic papers that we’ve read this semester, we now have a sense of what an Economic research looks like. With this awareness or understanding though, it’s easy to feel that the task of writing a final paper is quite daunting — so many moving parts, so much coding, so much data cleaning.
While there’s certainly no way around the amount of work that goes into a final paper, I think there’s a way to frame the task so that you feel not only is it feasible but actually one where you can produce really great work. In what follows, I’ve attempted to provide a rough framework for how to write the paper. I’d suggest that you use this as a guide. I am of course am happy to answer specific questions as they arise throughout the writing process.
As a bit of motivation or as a light post, I think there are two really nice quotes from Rough Sleepers on the subject of research (remember Barbra’s line that’s it’s not research — it’s a report!) The first captures the essence of research.
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“For Jim, the study’s findings had the force of revelation, of something long suspected but never brought to life before”
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I really like this idea about how social science research is about bringing something to life “long suspected”. You don’t want to study something that we already know. We want to try and push the envelope.
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Example
Evictions are bad. We know evictions are bad. If you show that Evictions are good no one is going to believe you. If you show that they are bad, no one is that interested. We want to try and push the envelope. To take a concrete policy example, what’s the “right” enforcement level of Crime Free Housing Laws?
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A second quote from Dr. Jim illustrates that as we’re pushing this envelope, we’re never going to be entirely certain that we’ve really nailed our estimate.
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"For a long time, Jim had been at odds with what he called 'the drive to be certain,' which he believed was inculcated in doctors during residency and which took time to wear off. He favored something nearer to what the poet Keats called negative capability.”
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Together these quotes motivate us to (1) push the envelope in our research and (2) to recognize that there’s going to “great” uncertainty about what we produce.