ECON 3171

ECON 3171

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023.

This course covers methods used by social scientists to identify causal relationships in data, with a focus on evaluating the effects of real-world policies. Many social science analyses--including in the economics fields of public, labor, health, and development-aim to answer these types of policy-related causal questions: What is the effect of having health insurance on someone's health? Does the death penalty reduce crime? Will lowering class sizes increase students' academic achievement? The goal of this course is to train you to become both a high-quality consumer and producer of this type of research. You will learn about several research designs and data analysis methods for identifying causal relationships in data, read and assess empirical papers that apply these methods, and apply these methods to datasets yourself.

When Offered Fall.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: PAM 3100 or equivalent.

Distribution Category (SBA-AS, SDS-AS, SSC-AS)

Outcomes
  • Assess the strengths and limitations of different research designs for estimating causal effects.
  • Read and assess the strengths and weaknesses of empirical research answering causal questions.
  • Apply the research designs covered in the course to data-based examples.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi:
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: PAM 4101

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7329 ECON 3171   LEC 001

  • Instruction Mode: In Person