General Tips about Writing Style
In general, term papers test students’ ability to use economic logic to inspire a question, critically analyze previous literature, and consider empirical issues. It is especially critical that the term paper shows that we are more intelligent, analytical, and sophisticated about health or development economics than, say, a clever editorial writer for The New York Times. We should present facts, cite literature, clarify economic trade-offs, and generally take an analytical approach to the problem. In his or her term paper, a student can be tempted to stray into opinion-page, journalistic writing. This should not be done. We will get a lower grade if your writing is
- ungrammatical
- unclear
- journalistic
Organization of the Paper
Evaluate your paper’s one central and exclusive contribution. Make a single paragraph out of this, and the writing must be specific. It will take some thought to distil your one key contribution.Your readers are short on time and impatient. No one will ever read the whole thing from beginning to end. Readers skim the text. You must make skimming simple for them. The majority of readers are interested in learning your simple result. Just a few people are concerned with how it differs from others. Only a few people care if it holds up to various definitions, equipment collections, and so on.
While your writing should not be written in a journalistic style, it can be structured in the same way that a newspaper article is. Not in a joke or novel format, but in a triangular or newspaper style. Take note of how newspapers begin with the most relevant information, then move to the background for readers who want more information.
Many papers get this wrong, and many readers don’t realize the significance of the paper until the very last page, the very last table.
A good paper isn’t a journal of your research journey. The reader is uninterested in how you arrived at the correct response. The reader is unconcerned about the hundreds of items you tried and failed to succeed with. It’s a good idea to save it for your memoirs.
Introduction section
The abstract and introduction are the sections of your written work that get you through the door. Write them in simple and correct circumstances!
They have more important things to discuss than reading your article. In the first two paragraphs, spark their interest in your study and convince them of your point of view. You must justify your contribution in order for anyone to understand it.
The first sentence is the most difficult. Start with financial economics, not theory. Financial economists have long questioned whether markets are effective. Your paper must be interesting in and of itself, not just because a lot of other people have written about it. Do not begin with a long explanation of why the topic is relevant to public policy. All of this is referred to as “clearing your throat” by authors. Begin with your most important contribution.
Some Recommendations for Points to Cover in the Introduction Section
- The gap you’re trying to fill with your question
- Challenging or perplexing the reader’s intuition is a good idea.
- Make sure you specify your contribution in that section.
- What are your main results?
Literature review section
Starting your introduction with a page and a half of other literature is not a good idea. First and foremost, your followers are eager to learn more about what you do. They can’t start to question whether it’s better than what others have done before they comprehend what you do. Second, the majority of readers are unfamiliar with the literature. It’ll be difficult enough to justify your paper in simple terms; good luck with describing everyone else’s too.
You should write a short literature review after you’ve outlined your contribution. Make it a different section or set it off so that people who aren’t interested can skip it. Remember that people will struggle to understand how your paper differs from others because they don’t yet understand your paper, and most of them haven’t read the others. Don’t be greedy about your citations. It’s not necessary to claim that someone else got it wrong for your solution and changes to be intriguing.
Some Recommendations for Points to Cover in the Literature Review Section
- Keep in mind that your key contribution would be to the economics discipline.
- The first segment should address previous research that is directly applicable to your research work.
Data section
This section should be cover with two parts
Part 1: Start giving the name and source of the data you’re using, as well as the time period it covers. Define whether you have a panel, cross-section, or time series, as well as the unit of measurement and the number of observations. Discuss the data’s limitations, such as missing variables, findings, survey responses, and a limited number of observations, among others.
Part 2: You should identify which aspects of your data are most important to your project; for example, you may spend more time discussing your dependent variable than a control variable. It’s also worth repeating that the best way to learn how to write a data section is to read many data sections in the literature and pay attention to the types of data they contain.
Identification strategy
These tips are more about how to do empirical work than how to write empirical work, but in the end, the two are not that dissimilar. What are the most crucial aspects of scientific research? Identification is just another term for the method of calculating causal effects. It clearly describes your identification strategy.
Results
One of the most common errors made by writers of economic papers is forgetting that their findings must be written up as carefully and clearly as any other part of the paper. There are two options to choose from:
- How many should empirical results be presented?
- How should these results be described in the text?
How Should I Describe My Empirical Results in the Text?
You’ve decided how to make your tables, graphs, and figures. You can explain them in the text in detail. In the topic sentence of a paragraph, state the table’s main point.
Conclusion
When writing up your empirical findings concentrate only on the most critical points and be as concise as possible. You might feel like you’re repeating yourself or that the reader is offended by how closely you’re leading them through your tables and graphs. PhD Assistance Subject-Matter Expertise is fully capable of writing on any subject with regards to economics.
