ECN2009 Economic Perspectives Assignment

This assessment is worth 50% of the module.
This assessment is a written literature review.
Instructions
1. Choose a topic from any area of economics. Search using the universities
Primo search engine and / or google scholar find 3 economics articles that
relate to your chosen topic.
You must ensure that your 3 articles are from credible economics journals. The
journals you select must be on the ABS list of ‘Economics, Econometrics and
Statistics’ Journals. This list is available in a pdf document on Moodle. Submissions
based upon articles in other journals will receive a lower mark.
You are advised to find papers from a fairly narrow topic area (e.g. ‘the impact of free
trade agreements on economic growth’ rather than ‘the determinants of economic
growth’) and that cover more than one methodological approach (e.g. case study,
pure theory, econometric). If you are in any doubt then discuss your ideas with a
member of staff at the end of a timetabled session.
2. Write a mini literature review, using your 3 articles from part A, that covers the
following areas
 What underlying methodology(ies) were used in each of the 3 articles?
o This should state the authors views of both
 epistemology (e.g. open system or closed system reasoning
etc)
 ontology (e.g. realist or positivist etc).
 What method(s) were used?
 What were the research questions addressed?
 What were the key conclusions?
 Identify any obvious gaps in the findings.
 Identify one or more research questions which might address the
perceived gaps.
Word limit 2000. You are unlikely to be able to gain a good mark if you summit work
significantly below the 2000 word maximum.
A word count must be included at the end of each essay and essays must be within
the word limit. The word count includes text, appendices and footnotes but excludes
text within any titles, graphs and bibliography. Your essay is not expected to include
appendices.
Suggested initial background reading on methods etc
There are references on Moodle to the material underpinning relevant lecture
sessions. Those should be your initial reading.
A number of textbooks (undated as any edition of each is fine) give a basic coverage
of the general topics expected to be covered by a good submission, including:
 Bryman A and E Bell, Business Research Methods, Oxford University Press
 Saunders M, Lewis P, and A Thornhill, Research Methods for Business
Students, FT Prentice Hall
The following texts are tailored specifically to economics:
 Dow S (2002), Economic Methodology: an inquiry, OUP
 Ethridge D E, Research Methodology in Applied Economics, Blackwell
Publishing
Other general texts on research methods include
 Balnaves M and P Caputi, Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods –
an investigative approach, Sage
 Creswell J W, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches, Sage
 Silverman D, Doing