ITRN
601, Research and Analysis for International Commerce and Policy,
Fall
2001, Wednesdays, August 29 – December 12, 7:05-9:35 pm, Room 242
Dr.
Daniel Gaske, Instructor, 703-613-6953, dgaske @ earthlink.net
Welcome! I hope this course will provide research and
analysis methods and techniques that will be valuable during your course of
studies here at ICP and in your careers.
Course
Requirements
Students
will be required to complete the following graded activities:
n
two homework exercises that will apply
principles and concepts discussed in previous classes; these exercises are to
be completed individually, but may be worked on in groups.
n
a final project that will require integration of
all principles discussed into creating of a presentation of key quantitative
trends in country, sector, or industry of your choice; final project may be
prepared and presented individually or by two students.
The
final project specifically is to consist of student(s) choosing an economy,
industry/sector, issue, or company of interest to him/her/them and preparing a
15-minute PowerPoint or similar verbal/visual presentation laying out in tables
and graphs key quantitative trends in topic selected. While some text slides -- title,
explanations, implications, and bibliography – are appropriate, for most part
slides should be presentation of relevant quantitative data in graphs and
tables. The presentation should
fully incorporate the key principles of research, analysis, sources,
quantitative methods, and presentation discussed in the course. A handout based on the presentation should
be prepared for each class member.
As
an alternative to the actual presentation, you may prepare a PowerPoint file
accompanied by “speaker notes” on each slide as if you were preparing for a
superior or client to use in his/her own presentation on the topic. This alternative will require the same
PowerPoint file that you would present, but also detailed speaker notes on each
slide. You may propose your topic,
format (presentation or file / speaker notes), and desired date, if
presentation option is chosen, at any time, but no later than November 7.
Grading
The
course grade will be developed as follows.
n
Each homework exercise and the final
presentation will be given a grade of A, A-, B+, B, ….., based on how close to “perfection” the
exercise/presentation comes.
Occurrences of inaccuracies, ineffective supporting data or
argumentation, lack of clarity, omitted elements, etc., will increasingly lower
the grade. More precisely, approximately each 1-2 “shortfalls” in the above
areas, as determined by the instructor, will lower the grade to the next
level. Late turn-in of an assignment
may be assessed shortfalls.
n
The letter grade assigned for each exercise and
for the final presentation will be assigned the numerical equivalent from the
GMU grade scale. These three numerical
grades will be averaged into a course numerical grade which will then be
assigned the equivalent letter grade it is closest to in the GMU grade
scale. In the event this grade falls
exactly half way between two grades, the lower grade will be assigned.
Course
Materials
The
following printed resources, available in the Bookstore, are to be used in the
course:
n
Guide
to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics,
n
Numbers
Guide: The Essentials of Business Numeracy,
n
Understanding
the Calculations of Key Economics and Business Statistics.
Materials for the course also are to be provided
through the LAN in the classroom, the web, and regular handouts. Use of materials is detailed below.
Course
Schedule
Date Topics and Assignments
Aug
29 Overview of Research and Analysis
Preparation: Process of Research and Analysis;
http://mason.gmu.edu/~mvanscha/wallace.html
Sep
5 Critically Evaluating Works of
Others
Preparation: Assigned essays by Bhagwati and
Altman; website to be announced
Sep 12
Commonly Used Statistical Formats and Interpretation
Preparation: Guide to Economic Indicators,
Numbers Guide, LAN file gm601lec.ppt
Sep
19 Sources of International Economic
and Business Data (Dr. Van Schaik)
Preparation: Explore GMU and external print
and electronic data resources
FIRST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT; DUE JUN 5
Sep
26 Indicators of Current Domestic
Economic and Financial Performance
Preparation: Economic Indicators 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,12,13
Oct
3
Indicators of Current International Financial Performance
Preparation: Economic Indicators 10,11
Homework 1; due Oct 17
Oct
10 No Class
Oct
17 Indicators of Economic Structure
and International Trade Trends
Preparation: World Development Report 2000/2001, Statistical Annex
Oct
24 Indicators of Sectoral and Company
Trends
Preparation: Economics Indicators, 9
Oct
31 Review/Overview of Excel and
PowerPoint
Nov 7
Statistical Methods 1 – Calculating Ratios, Shares, Deflators, and
Changes
Preparation: Numbers Guide 1,4; Economic
Indicators 2; Understanding the
Calculation of 1-2,4-5;
gm601lec.ppt on shared drive
Selection of Final Project Topic Due
Nov
14 Statistical Methods 2 –
Calculations in Foreign Currencies and Exchange Rates;
Presenting Statistical Results in Table and Charts
Preparation: Numbers Guide 1,4; Economic
Indicators 2; Understanding the
Calculation of 1-2,4-5; gm601lec.ppt
Nov
21 No Class
Nov
28 Statistical Methods 3 –
Descriptive Statistics; Regression and Time Series Analysis
Preparation: Numbers Guide 1,4; Economic Indicators 2; Understanding
the
Calculation of 3,6;
gm601lec.ppt
Dec
5 FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS –
maximum of 8
Dec
12 FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS –
maximum of 8