1. Research Instruments
By: Dr. Matthew Kidder

2. About Me
Education: PhD in Economics from University of California Irvine 2016
Research Interests: Causal Statistical Analysis of Firms, Global Value Chains, Comparative Advantages, Sources of Productivity Growth and Economic Development
Published Works: Policy pieces at the World Bank. I am trying to publish my research work in top journals, which is difficult.

3. Class Website: www.mkidder.com
Go to the “Student Resources” section. Complete Questionnaire within 24 hours.

4. Other Details Office Hours: By appointment Grading: 30% Participation
- Complete my surveys on time
- Actively participate in class discussion and group work
20% Assignments
50% Final Project

5. By the end of this course you should:
have selected a research question that is viable to pursue
know what type of data is capable to answer their research question
collected data that is relevant to their research question
be able to deal with common problems related to data
be aware of different statistical software that is available as well as know how to gain proficiency
be able to design experiments either directly or by using quasi- experimental methods

6. Tentative Outline (8 class Series)
Data (4 classes)
Types: (1 class)
Time series, Cross-Sectional, Panel, Experimental
Collection of Data and Cleaning: (2 classes)
Surveys, Secondary Data
Measurement: (1 class)
Likert, Composite Measures (1 class)
Statistics (3 classes)
Differences in Means (1/2 class)
Linear Regression Model (2 classes)
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental (1/2 class)

7. Projects that you will complete in this course
Formulate a Research Question
Collect data that can answer the question
Write a description of the Data
Present your main idea in 2 graphs
Write a 300 word abstract for your paper
FINAL PROJECT = All things combined into one document.

8. It is time to switch roles with your Professor
What are you going to teach the rest of us this quarter?
We need to be educated on:
Your research question and why it is interesting
The best practices in your field and why you think they are convincing
Your findings and interpretations

9. Criteria for a proper research question
Scientific:
Science is a systematic enterprise that creates, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Wikipedia
Why might a question fail to be scientific?
Not testable because of a lack of data. I cannot test spiritual things like God.
God cannot be objectively measured. Perhaps this is a failure of man and science instead of a reflection of God.

10. Criteria for a proper research question
The Question is original
New Data Source
New Methodology
New Idea
The Question is relevant to other research (this is the hardest one)
To convince others, we must first relate to others
How might the answer to this question change how we think about other work?
Repeat: It can be answered with available tools and/or data

11. Group Instructions Get into groups based on your field of study.
Group sizes should be between 3-4 students
Present your research question to your classmates. If you don’t have a research question then talk about your interests.
You have 3 minutes to present your work, no more.
Your then have 2 minutes to discuss your work.

12. Student Proposal 1: How Can Social Networks Help Investors Make Investment Decisions?
1) Identify Terms
2) Clarify Terms
3) Define Measurements
4) Check Data Availability
Social Networks
Which Networks? Friends, Communities, Social Media? Pick one in bold.
Possible:
Number of connections
Number of connections that your connections have
Power of connections
Our measure here needs to be linkable to other measures below. This may come from one or more datasets
Help
What kind of help? Have higher returns, get into stock winners earlier…?
Possible
ROI
Entry timing for a 20 percent winner
This has to be linkable to other measures, including social networks…starting to look challenging in practice
Investors
What kind of investors and what kind of investments: Stock market, greenfield…etc.
This might be challenging to link

13. What is the Effect of MNC stakeholders relations on Corporate Social Responsibility Outcomes?
Measurement: Does this data exist
“stakeholder relations” = number of philanthropic events that involve local partnerships: We would need data on all philanthropic events held by all companies in the sample. Some would have to do events locally while others did them out of the area. This might be difficult data to find
This data may also be challenging to find and it will probably not be linked to philanthropic events.
Define Terms: Which Terms are vaguely written?
“stakeholder”: There are many different types of stakeholders. Some are internal to the firm, some are external. The question is not clearly formed.
“relations”: what kind of relations? We need to be specific.
“Outcomes”: What kind of outcomes? Do we mean firm outcomes like profitability or do we mean social outcomes such as community health?
Clarify vague terms. For example
local residents
philanthropic engagements
greenhouse gas emissions

14. First Assignment
Write a research question in no more than 2 sentences.
Due at the beginning of the next class.
WARNING: future tasks will be centered around this question. You may freely change your research question at any point during the class but you will have to re-do all assignments for their new question.
Story of writing a background paper for the Development Report