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EC350 Research Project3rd BA, 4th BA (International) 1999/2000Department of EconomicsNational University of Ireland, GalwayAdministrator of Programme: Dr Aidan Kane
Overview of EC350 Research ProjectThe EC350 Research Project can be a rewarding component of your education in economics. The formal requirement is that you engage in a year-long process of economic research and deliver a Research Project of about 5,000 to 6,000 words by the end of Semester II (next Semester is not broker by an Easter Vacation, as is usually the case). The Research Project is worth 20% of your final year’s work in Economics. Above and beyond examinations, the Research Project is an excellent opportunity to engage in a piece of work which utilises your own talents, interests and knowledge. Employers and/or graduate programmes will be very interested in how you undertake this self-directed work as it reflects a number of your abilities: • Your ability to reason economically, and understand economic arguments, • Your ability to select a topic of interest, investigate what the economic journal literature has to say about it, and `add-value’ to this, • Your familiarity with sources of economic information, and how to access them, • Your general skills of planning and delivering a research project, • Your ability to meet deadlines with high quality work, • Your skills at producing presentable documents, including text, tables and graphs, which communicate your work clearly. We do not assume you have these skills now; most of the point of the EC350 Research Project is to provide an opportunity for you to ‘learn by doing’. We have organised a Programme of Work for the year to provide structure and guidance. Research is a learning process, pursued over a period of time to produce worthwhile work, and the Research Project is much more than the final draft you hand in for examination purposes. Hence, this Programme of Work starts now and ends with the submission of your final draft. Keep in mind that if you have problems this year, there are many sources of help in the University, not the least of which is the Student Counselling Service. Please keep in contact with the Department of Economics if problems arise, so that they can be addressed in your best interests. The Programme of Work in Brief The Programme of Work is comprises three main elements: • A series of general lectures for the entire class, addressing the main elements of the research process, to guide you and explain what is expected of you. These lectures will be given by Dr. Aidan Kane, Prof. Michael Keane, Dr. Eamon O’Shea and Dr. Scott Steele. You are strongly advised to attend, in order to help you achieve the standard which examiners expect from the EC350 Research Project. • A programme of tutorials, with about eight students each. Tutorials will meet four times this Semester and once next Semester, in weeks where no general lecture is held. The tutorials are given by Prof. Michael Cuddy, Prof Michael Keane, Dr Eamon O’Shea, Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Scott Steele. You have been allocated to one tutorial group (see attached listing). Most tutorials will be held on the weeks indicated later at 9am Wednesdays: some will be held at 4pm on Thursdays. • A set of tasks, each worth part of the total marks for the Research Project. These tasks will be marked by your tutor and form the basis for tutorial discussions. Note the submission dates now and plan accordingly. Your work for these tasks should be submitted to the Departmental Office before 3pm, on or before the dates given. All work submitted should be typed, but elaborate binding is not necessary–staple pages and place them in a clear plastic document holder. You should always retain a copy of work you submit, and keep a number of back-up copies of computer files on diskette. Note that only one tutorial and two general lectures are scheduled for Semester II. By this time you will be working on your first draft of your Research Project, to be submitted at the end of Week 3 of Semester II. Then your tutor will also arrange an appointment to discuss your second draft with you, around Week 9. The Research Project which you submit must reflect your own work. Part of the Programme of Work deals with using the work of others from books and journal articles appropriately, for example by always ensuring you fully and properly attribute quotations and acknowledging your sources. Plagiarism is not acceptable. Dr. Joan O’Connell has been designated as internal examiner for the EC350 Research Project.
Please ensure that you are registered with Computer Services. The Faculty of Arts has made separate computer provision for Arts students. The rooms in question are known as Ríomharlann na nDán and are located in the Geography. Ms. Emer Madden is Information Technology Officer of the Faculty of Arts and her office is located near these rooms. Contact Ms. Madden in order to register to use these facilities. You may find it worthwhile now to explore the information technology facilities provided by the Library–in particular the Infomedia Centre on the left inside the main entrance. These facilities are continually upgraded; check the Library web site and its range of information leaflets. The web site of the Department of Economics is at http://www.nuigalway.ie/ecn/The section of this site on the EC350 Research Project is being updated. You will find some materials there at the moment which you may find of use– in particular two documents which you can download i.e., guides to the format of a research paper, and handling text and type on a computer. Also, you may find the following resources provided on the Library’s web site especially useful (you need to access both of these facilities from a networked computer on campus):
Contact Information Dr Aidan Kane is administrator of the Programme of Work. You should contact him to sort out problems.Room: 46 (first floor, St. Anthony’s) Phone: (091) 524411 ext. 2530 email: aidan.kane@nuigalway.ie
The Department of Economics office hours are: Monday—Friday: 09.30—11.00 11.30—13.00 14.30—16.00 16.30—17.00
Secretaries to the Department: Ms. Claire Noone Room 52 ext. 2177 claire.noone@nuigalway.ieMs. Imelda Howley Room 49 ext. 2501 imelda.howley@nuigalway.ieConsult individual tutors for their contact hours arrangements.
Each of these tasks receives credit towards your final mark in the EC350 Research Project, as indicated in the Programme of Work. • Written work should be submitted in typed form. • Submit your work to the Departmental Office before 3pm on or before the dates given. • You should be extremely careful to retain your own copies of all work submitted for your records as these tasks are part of your Degree Examination. • You should also keep a number of back-ups of your work on diskette, and save your files often, as you work on a computer. • Anticipate the extra pressure which the University computer system experiences at many times, and plan accordingly.
These notes below are intended for general guidance only: your tutor may give you more specific guidelines in class.
Decide the topic for your Research Project. In this proposal, which should comprise no more than three pages, include at least the following: • A working title for the project. • A summary of about 300 words of what the project is intended to do. • A list of the main sections and subsections you envisage for your project. • A list of the sources you will draw upon in your research, part of which should be a bibliography • A plan of action which you will follow between now and the end of Semester II Task 2: Revised Proposal Revise the proposal you submitted as Task 1, in the light of work undertaken since the last tutorial. Task 3: Further Revised Proposal + Literature Survey
It is envisaged that at this stage, the broad outlines of your project should be agreed, and that this revision of your proposal should include a literature survey of the area you are researching. You should gather material well in advance for this task, and your tutor will advise further on this in class. Task 4 1st draft EC350 Research Project
This first full draft of your project should be to the standard of presentation required of the final product, and covered in the general lectures. It is a first draft, in the sense that you will revise and extend it as appropriate until the final submission date, especially in the light of discussion with your tutor. Task 5: 2nd draft EC350 Research Project
This is a complete draft and is your last task but one. Again, you will have discussions with your tutor, this time on an individual basis, with a viewing to revising/re-drafting your work. Task 6: Final draft EC350 Research Project
Note that there is some flexibility with regard to the size of the final product: it is envisaged that most will be about 5,000 to 6,000 words in length, but this does not include supplementary material which might be appropriate to include in appendices nor does it reflect the fact that some types of projects may lend themselves to more concise treatments.
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