Nützliche. Ich bedanke Shoula
Workschop on Scientific Writing 1
这门课涉及论文的规范写法,共2节,虽无学分,但有学生限制,30-40多人通过抽签的方法选中15人参加.
不少同学在问这门课的内容,这是第一部分笔记,希望能对将要完成SEMINAR或MASTERS THESIS的同学有所帮助.
First rule: define your guiding question well!
Who is my audience? What do i have to write and explain?
Is the question clearly defined?
Limit the topic as exactly as possible!
China in the global trading system too large area
The trade liberalization experience of china after the WTO access
The role of Chinese social networks in bilateral trade flows of china; empirical evidence (choose this one) you know what is the answer in the end.
Can this question be answered?
In how many pages?
In how much time?
Plan content and time horizon!
What am i doing right now?
Does this help me to answer my question?
Finally :
Did I succeed to answer my guiding question?
1. Research and material collection
2. Selecting relevant papers
3. Reading papers
4. Organizing your stuff
5. Structuring you ideas or your paper
6. Writing the paper/formal rules
7. Post-processing
8. Presenting
9. Outlook
My topic: Maximin, Rule Utilitarianism, and the Just Constitution
1. Research and material collection
What are you searching for? Literature data a research question?
Literature search: start with a central paper
How to go further?
Papers cited by relevant article
Papers that cite this article 1. EconLit etc. (UB)
2. RepEc EconPapers repec ideas
http://rzblx10.uni-regensburg.de/dbinfo/warpto.php?bib_id=ubfre&color=2&titel_id=36&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.redi-fr.belwue.de%2Fdb%2Fstart.php%3Fdatabase%3DEconLit-ebsco
http://ideas.repec.org/
Subject search 3. google scholar
4. Broad keyword search
Journal search:
1. EZB (Elecktronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek,UB)
2. Hard copy ‘‘online katalog‘‘,constrained for ‘‘Zeitschriften‘‘
3. Do not shy away from hard copies and ‘‘Fernleihe‘‘
2. Selecting relevant papers
How to find good journals? www.Ideas.repec.org
Should I rely on working papers? 新的领域 新的内容
好的working papers:
NBER working papers
CEPR working papers
IZA discussion paper series
Working papers of the ECB, World Bank, etc
Working paper series of good universities
IF YOU HAVE FOUND A GOOD WP, ALWAYS CHECK WHETHER IT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED ALREADY!
Do not build your paper exclusively on no-name working papers/seminar papers/ets. You just found via Google!!!
NO COPY
3. Reading papers
Iteratively read and reread the papers with growing attention to detail!
Try to understand what is the paper about: Title------> Abstract------>Introduction ------> Conclusion
After first reading, deciding whether this paper can answer your problem.
Second, third, …reading
Try to understand it thoroughly!
Organize the papers you find
What am I doing right now?
Does this help me to answer my question?
Theory
Empirics: empirical evidence from specific countries or cross country studies
Homework1
Read your central paper, and shortly scan other 3 papers ….
Homework2
Organize these 3 papers in a literature list on a transparency.
Homework3
Prepare a preliminary structure for your seminar paper
4. Organizing your stuff
Fourth rule: use a reliable filing system! Do not lose ideas or references!
You will need a filing system:
Keep electronic +physical copies of the papers
Organize your main ideas
Keep it flat and consistent: name + title
Use a good reference manager:
For managing Bib Tex-data: e.g.,JabRef(PC), BibDesk(Mac)
Manage acitations on WORD2007
Authors (year) method time details of modeling strategy period result
5. Structuring you ideas or your paper
Mind mapping Try free mind
Fifth rule: build a clear line of arguments! Tell a story!
Structuring your paper well is one of the most important things to do.
You should think about the structure of your paper, sections. Subsections, subsubsections, paragraphs….and then your paper has been written already!
The pearl string
Imagine all your thoughts lined up neatly like pearls on a string, interconnected…
Theoretical argument:
1. Assumptions
2. Derivation
3. Results
4. Evaluation of results
5. Policy conclusions
Empirical argument
1. Main hypotheses(theory)
2. Data
3. Estimation model
4. Results(in Tables)
5. Comparison/evaluation
General argument
1. starting point (state the problem)
2. elaboration/derivation
3. result/implication
4. potential extensions/open questions
5. starting point of the next argument
What is the purpose of a conventional seminar paper?
Its main goal is to learn about a specific subject
It reports on existing research: 1. broad literature survey 2.critical survey of one to three papers
It presents a critical evaluation of studies/methods/findings
What is the purpose of an empirical seminar paper?
Its main goal is to learn to apply a method
It replicates existing research
Critical evaluation/studies…
What is the purpose of a classical master thesis?
It extends existing knowledge or presents an extensive literature survey with application to a specific problem
It presents a critical evaluation of studies…
What is the purpose of a scientific paper?
It presents original research which brings the literature forward :
Introduces new concepts
Presents new empirical evidence
Presents a new model
It has to be embedded into the rest of the literature
Structure of a seminar paper on a THEORETICAL/empirical topic:
1. introduction
2. definitions/stylized facts/theoretical background
The model of X AND Y
The model of A AND B
3. comparison and critical evaluation
/ A comparison of two empirical approaches (empirical topic)
4. conclusion
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