Review Questions
ECON 428 Spring 2003
Questions for Quiz 1
Questions for Quiz 2
Questions for Quiz 3

Review for QUIZ 1 (April 16)

  1. Define research. What is the difference between pure and applied research? What is the difference between inductive (descriptive) and deductive (analytical) research?
  2. Explain the scientific method. What are its key elements?
  3. What constitutes ethical behavior in conducting research? What is considered unethical? What is paraphrasing and how is it different from plagiarizing and summarizing? (See handout at the end of the packet for this comparison).
  4. What is meant by the research problem? Distinguish the research problem from the research question and from the topic. How does one get from the topic to the research problem? What structure do all problems have in common?
  5. What questions should you ask (what should you find out) if someone assigns you to do some research?
  6. What is the role of economic theory in research?
  7. What do readers want in a research report? What might the researchers want the readers to do?
  8. What should the writer know or try to learn about potential readers? Why should the writer know these things?
  9. What 6 questions should a writer answer in describing a concept or narrowing a topic? List and explain each one.
  10. Explain the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Give an example of each.
  11. How can one judge the reliability of a source? List some of the differences between an professional economics journal and other periodicals? What is a working paper?
  12. What is the name of the primary index to articles published in professional economics journals? What is the primary directory of economics information on the web (Do NOT answer my handout).
  13. Know how a typical economics journal article is structured. What are important points to remember in summarizing such an article? What is contained in an abstract?
  14. Be able to read regression results and interpret the signs and coefficients. What does "statistical significance at the ".05 level" mean? Explain the use of regression results in testing hypotheses.
  15. What is the NAICS used for? What did it replace?
  16. Describe the economic census: how frequently is the census taken, who is covered by it, what information is gathered, how is it classified? Who uses this information and for what purpose?
  17. Describe the census of population and the current population survey? How are they different? What type of information is collected by each?
  18. Suppose you wanted to find some economic data and didn't know where to find it. Discuss several ways you might go about finding it.
  19. Define Gross Domestic Product. How is it measured? Who calculates it? How is it used? What are its limitations? What is the difference between GDP and real GDP in 1996 (chain) dollars?
  20. Is GDP a good measure of the standard of living of a country? Why or why not? What should be used instead?
  21. What are the components of GDP? Which component is the most volatile?
  22. What is a chain price index? How is it used? Why did the government switch to using chain price indexes?
  23. What is the index of industrial production? Who compiles the index? How is it related to GDP? Why is it used? What are its short-comings? What is the capacity utilization rate?
  24. Define the terms "unemployment rate" and "labor force." How is the rate of unemployment determined? What are some of the short-comings of this measure? What has been the range of unemployment rates over the last 25 years? What are some other measures of the state of the labor market? How are they different?
  25. How do we measure productivity?
  26. Define disposable personal income and explain how it's calculated (what's included and what's excluded?).
  27. What does the CPI measure? Explain how it's calculated and how it's used. What is the difference between the CPI and the PPI?
  28. Conceptually, what is a leading indicator? List some leading indicators for the US economy. What is the index of leading indicators? How is it interpreted/used?
  29. Explain the general meaning and use of index numbers. Give some examples of commonly used index numbers. What does an index of 138 tell you? What can't you do with index numbers? What is a diffusion index? How is it different?
  30. Economists track a number of different interest rates. Explain the differences among the following: discount rate, federal funds rate, Treasury bill rate, prime rate.
  31. What is meant by the value of the dollar? How is it computed?
  32. Explain the difference between real and nominal data, and between seasonally adjusted and unadjusted data. Note the appropriate use for each.
  33. What types of information can be found at each of the following web sites: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve, Conference Board, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). What is the best place to start looking if you need economic data for a paper?

Review for Quiz 2 (May 7)
Note: quiz 2 will NOT include the material from May 5. It will be on quiz 3.

  1. Define and be able to calculate or interpret a frequency distribution.
  2. Be able to make the following transformations of economic data: mean, median, weighted average, percentage change, per capita, conversion to index numbers. Know when each is appropriate. Know and be able to explain some of the common errors made in using and interpreting percentage figures.
  3. Explain how price indexes are computed. Be able to use them to convert nominal data, to calculate a percentage change, and to adjust for changing base years.
  4. What is meant by an annualized rate of change? What assumptions are made when annualizing data? Explain how to annualize monthly data. Know and be able to explain some of the common errors made in using data for different time periods.
  5. When should you present information in a visual rather than verbal form? How should the visual display and text be related?
  6. Identify the main parts of a table. What are some characteristics of a well-constructed table.
  7. Identify the major types of graphs. When is each appropriate? State (in a positive form) some rules for displaying data well. What should you consider in deciding whether to display information in a table or a graph?
  8. Where in your report should you locate your main claim? Where should you locate your main sub-claims? What should the introduction contain? the conclusion?
  9. Describe some uses of experiments in research in economics and business. What are the advantages and disadvantages of experimentation over other methods of acquiring data. What are important questions to consider in setting up or designing experiments? How are the results used in testing hypotheses or making decisions?
  10. Identify the different methods of obtaining information. What types of information are effectively obtained with a survey? When are interviews or experiments more effective?
  11. Describe the various types of surveys and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  12. Describe the different steps in conducting a survey.
  13. What is meant by a simple random sample? Why are random samples used? Describe how one can be obtained? What is systematic selection? How is a simple random sample different from a stratified sample? What are the other types of samples? How are they different from a random sample? When are they appropriate?
  14. What is meant by sampling bias? How might it be introduced? Why is it a problem?
  15. Why do sample size and response rate matter? What are some rules of thumb for appropriate numbers?
  16. Explain what is meant by open-ended (unstructured) and close-ended (structured) questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? When should each be used? Describe some common forms of structured questions. Describe the various types of scales found in questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of including a neutral option?
  17. What makes a good survey question? What are some principles to keep in mind in writing survey questions? How do you avoid introducing bias?
  18. What is a branching question? When and why is it used?
  19. How should a questionnaire be organized?
  20. Once the survey has been written and the sample drawn, what tasks and decisions remain before the survey can be distributed? Before the researcher can used the data?
  21. How do researchers describe a) categorical data b)continuous numerical data? Explain the difference among nominal scales, ordinal scale, interval scale and ratio scale.

Review Questions for Quiz 3 (June 4)
I may add a few questions later. Check the announcements section of the web page.

  1. What are the main elements of an argument? Explain what each one does.
  2. How do economists develop hypotheses or claims? What are the characteristics of an effective claim? When and why should we qualify our claims?
  3. What is the difference between reasons and evidence? What are the 6 tests of evidence? What are the ways in which evidence can contradict claims? What doe economists consider evidence?
  4. What is a warrant and why are they necessary? What are the main types?
  5. Describe the 4 ways to qualify your arguments. When should you use qualifiers and when not? What are some ways of responding to alternative positions?
  6. How can you structure the body of your argument to make it easy for the reader to follow? What are some major organizing mistakes to avoid? Explain the old/new principle.
  7. What does a paragraph contain? How should a paragraph be constructed for effective communication?
  8. How can you provide the reader with a sense of continuity and coherence?
  9. Booth and his co-authors offer several principles for writing clearly. Be able to explain each of those principles, diagnose problems, and revise in accordance with them.
  10. Describe some ways to make your writing more concise. What are some words or phrases to avoid?
  11. As a general rule, what should be the subject of the sentence? What should the verb do? What is meant by nominalization?
  12. Explain and be able to demonstrate the role of economic theory in research.
  13. What is a null hypothesis? Why do economists formulate hypotheses in this way?
  14. Suppose you wanted to support a claim that A (a change in tax policy or some other variable) caused B (a change in investment). How could you do so without doing an econometric analysis? Describe several ways.
  15. Define and be able to calculate or interpret a frequency distribution.
  16. What is meant by a cross tabulation? How is one constructed? How are they interpreted and used in argument?
  17. What is a shift-share analysis? When could you use it? What would it tell you? Be able to explain how to do one. (You won't actually have to do the calculations).
  18. What is a chi-square test used for? Be able to set one up.
  19. Be able to read regression results and interpret the signs and coefficients. What does "statistical significance at the ".05 level" mean? Explain the use of regression results in testing hypotheses.
  20. Where in your report should you locate your main claim? Where should you locate your main sub-claims? What should the introduction contain? the conclusion?
  21. What does a paragraph contain? How should a paragraph be constructed for effective communication?
  22. How can you provide the reader with a sense of continuity and coherence?
  23. Booth and his co-authors offer several principles for writing clearly. Be able to explain each of those principles, diagnose problems, and revise in accordance with them.
  24. Describe some ways to make your writing more concise. What are some words or phrases to avoid?
  25. As a general rule, what should be the subject of the sentence? What should the verb do? What is meant by nominalization?
  26. How can you rewrite to eliminate choppiness in your writing?
  27. Describe how you would go about revising something you'd written. What would you do first? How would you determine what needed revising?
  28. Explain the procedure(s) you would use in making a simple forecast.
  29. Conceptually, what is a leading indicator? List some leading indicators for the US economy. What is the index of leading indicators? How is it interpreted/used?
  30. Describe the use of structural models in forecasting. What are the advantages and disadvantages? Explain how the BLS derives its forecasts of the US economy.

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