Center for the Study of Law and Society
Miniseries in Empirical Research Methods
Friday, March 6, 2009, 9 a.m. – 12 noon. Lunch to follow.
Justin McCrary
School of Law and Department of Economics
University of California, Berkeley
In this 3 hour seminar, we will discuss how to get started on an empirical project. A theme of the presentation will be that before beginning primary or secondary data collection, the scholar should to the greatest extent practicable define the research area, the research question, and the research design. Often, projects flounder when data collection protocols fail to dovetail with research design. I will focus on examples of quasi-experimental research designs and the types of data set best suited to those designs. A side benefit will be that the seminar will provide a helicopter tour of quasi-experimental research design.