Your goal is to write a proposal describing a research project or policy study that follows the
applied microeconomics framework we have surveyed this semester. I hope you have noticed
that education effects nearly every aspect of our society, so please do not feel boxed in by
the pure theories of economics
The introduction is a guide or roadmap to your proposal. The reader should be able to
understand at a high level the entirety of your proposal. Be concise and convincing.
The key to your intro is your story. Your topic should be interesting and make sense to the
common reader (not an economist), and you should attempt to fit your research question into
the flow of your story. In econometrics-speak we generally care about how some Y-variable
is affected by a change in some X-variable (How does increased school spending affect house
prices? What is the effect of an additional year of schooling on wages?). This is a good
way to lead your reader into a hypothesis that will eventually fit into an econometric model.
You should also mention briefly your data sources (or brief description of desired data) and
describe your econometric model in words.
Has your topic been studied before? If so you need to differentiate your study when you
prepare a proposal. Find 3-5 papers or studies that are similar to your topic. Summarize
each but DO NOT plagiarize and absolutely DO NOT copy and paste. Cite your sources.
Describe how your project will contribute to the current literature. Google scholar is your
friend. Avoid fluff, and motivate the reader to think your topic is important.
