Project Assignment Guidelines
Overview
As the stop in your journey toward your Master of Science in Applied Economics, you will complete a project that will allow you to demonstrate the knowledge and skills you have gained during your time at SNHU. Over the course of the term, you will immerse yourself in integrating what you have learned in your coursework and practice to create an authentic demonstration of your abilities as an economist. The project for this course is an analysis of a contemporary economic issue relative to a business, policy, or topic of your choice based on your academic area of interest. For instance, general track students might choose industrial policy, labor economics, international trade, macroeconomic policy, or regulatory economics. For those who are in the Environmental and Natural Resources concentration, you must choose a topic relative to the field. This analysis will be followed by a presentation and professional reflection of your journey through the Applied Economics program and how you plan to position yourself professionally. Completion of the analysis, presentation, and professional reflection components will exemplify your professional identity and represent the skills and abilities you can bring to a potential employer.
This capstone will be assessed somewhat differently than other courses you have taken online at SNHU. There are three separate components that will be submitted at different times during the course; however, they all operate together to make up the whole capstone experience and are not assessed separately. You will be evaluated on all three elements as a unit in determining whether you have achieved proficiency in each outcome. All components must be completed at the highest level, as the strengths of one cannot compensate for the weaknesses in another. Your instructor will guide you through this process, keeping a running narrative of your strengths and weaknesses in relation to the outcomes as you progress through the class. Your work is expected to meet the highest professional standards. Remember, you are selling yourself as much as you are selling your ideas.
In this assessment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following outcomes:
• Communicate economic principles, problems, findings, and risk in effective verbal, written, visual, and graphical formats
• Integrate appropriate economic theories and principles into the analysis of real-world organizational, social, and political issues
• Design and execute sound research studies that effectively and appropriately incorporate quantitative data analysis, econometrics, and other key economic tools and methods
• Incorporate accuracy, precision, and ethical decision making into the analysis and reporting of economic data
• Evaluate the impact of a wide variety of internal and external influences on personal, professional, and governmental decision making
Prompt
Working individually and with feedback from peers and your instructor, you will do the following: identify a question concerning a current economic phenomenon relative to a business, policy, or topic of your choice; reformulate the question into a hypothesis or some other form amenable to the application of economic tools; determine available resources; apply economic tools; come to a conclusion regarding the hypothesis; and present a report of findings. You will perform the steps of this analysis throughout the term, completing various assignments, meeting deadlines, and refining your plan. A comprehensive presentation will complete the process, representing the skills and abilities you bring to a potential employer.
Your instructor will be available to brainstorm ideas and act as an advisor throughout this process. You will additionally participate in discussion board peer- review sessions, providing feedback to your classmates and receiving feedback on your project.
Component One: Research Paper
The first of three components is the development of a comprehensive and professional analysis that should showcase the knowledge and skills you have gained throughout the MS Applied Economics program. The following sections should be included:
1. Economic Problem
Provide an overview of the economic problem and a general research agenda to address it.
2. Research Proposal
Critique and justify the particular techniques chosen for conducting the necessary research, providing a detailed description of both mathematical and statistical modeling. The proposal should include, but not be limited to, the following:
A. Research goal(s)
B. Relevant audiences
C. Strategies and tactics employed
D. Evaluation process
E. Data needs
F. Costs associated with needed research
G. Projected timeline
This report should be submitted in a professional and visually pleasing format. Consider your choice of fonts and your use of images, charts, and tables.
3. Research and Conclusions
A. Build upon the information from your proposal to collect secondary data and evaluate its quality.
B. Utilizing the econometrics package employed in ECO 620 and ECO 625, interpret the statistical results and present a conclusion of how the study answers the original research question. Among other things, items such as upside and downside risks to the analysis should be reflected through both quantitative means (such as prediction intervals) and qualitative means (such as the impact of exogenous variables). In addition, possible violations of the assumptions of the classical linear mode should be addressed.
C. What are the linkages between theory and the data results?
D. The external social and political factors as well as factors internal to the organization should be taken into account.
E. Your conclusion should discuss how the research can be applied to other economic problems, as well as the relationship to individual, governmental, and societal spheres.
F. Provide recommendations based on your analysis of the data.
Guidelines for Submission: Your submission for Component One should include a cover page and other common elements found in a professional economic problem analysis. The paper should be about 25 to 30 pages in length (not including the cover page and references). It is important to note, however, that in the real world, there are usually no page-length requirements, so this range is a suggestion. Use your best professional judgment regarding the length of your paper. Place an emphasis on the quality of your work, not on the quantity. The document should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Citations should be formatted according to APA style.
Component Two: PowerPoint Presentation
Your comprehensive and professional presentation uses the information from your economic problem analysis and should be designed to be given before a group of executives who may or may not have an economic background, making it important that you include only the essential facts that your audience needs to know in order to understand the analysis of the economic problem and make informed decisions. You should imagine giving this presentation with the goal of highlighting findings in a way that moves the audience to make a decision. In a nutshell, you are persuading your audience to make a decision relative to actionable items. The following should be addressed in your presentation:
• Demonstrate your understanding of the economic problem and the situation that established the need for your research and analysis.
• Based on your analysis, highlight your recommendations in a well-organized and clear manner. For instance, depending on your topic and results, you may have recommendations that seek to mitigate or address the economic problem, or you may develop recommendations, establishing a need for future studies.
Guidelines for Submission: For Component Two, you should use innovative and creative methods that are reflective of your project's goals. Remember, it is crucial to know your audience and tailor your message to them. Since you will not actually deliver this presentation in person, you must create a self-sustaining presentation that uses audio. The presentation should adhere to the principles of an effective presentation, and all of your sources should be cited properly, following APA style. There is no minimum or maximum number of slides required. You should use your best judgment to create a presentation of appropriate length that will communicate the economic problem and analysis while keeping the attention of your audience. Although appropriate length would depend on the situation, a general guideline ideal for business leaders would be a maximum of 30 minutes. This time frame would allow for a focused core message of critical information, leaving little room for tangential materials.
Component Three: Reflection Essay
This essay is your chance to reveal and discuss your thoughts about the process and outcomes of this project, your journey through your master's program, and how you plan to position yourself professionally. Writing reflectively allows you to think deeply and consciously about your experiences. Your ability to self- analyze in a business-appropriate manner, to address areas of growth, and to articulate goals and plans is invaluable to successful practice.
Thinking about the process you just completed, succinctly address the following types of issues:
• Why did you select this economic problem to analyze?
• How did you apply the economic theories you learned during your academic program to actual practices?
• Did you come across instances where you had to rely on practical experience rather than theory?
• If you had the opportunity to analyze this economic situation again, what would you do differently?
• What would you like to have done had you had more time?
• What were your ethical responsibilities for potential ethical violations in the analysis and reporting of the economic problem?
• What connections do you see between your capstone and your academic program?
• How will you apply what you have learned to your future academic and/or professional life?
Guidelines for Submission: Component Three should be submitted as a Word file with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Citations should be formatted according to APA style.
Milestones
Milestone One: Economic Problem Paper
In Module Two, you will write an overview of your hypothesis and a proposal on how to test it. You will include an overview of the problem, a justification, expected benefits, a statistical technique, and a testable hypothesis.
Milestone Two: Research Proposal
In Module Four, you will employ feedback from the previous modules and write a draft of the research proposal. Essentially, it will be an elaboration of the economic problem paper you created for Milestone One. You will include your research goal(s), relevant audiences and why the research is relevant to them, strategies and tactics employed, your evaluation process, data needs, cost of needed research, and a timeline.
Milestone Three: Data Analysis Paper
In Module Five, you will write a paper documenting how you are conducting your analysis. You will justify the techniques you decided to use, include a critical examination of the data, interpret the statistical outcomes, and address any remaining issues.