Syllabus
Updated A.Y. 2022-2023
The course in a nutshell
The course is an introduction to data analysis using the statistical software Stata. The ultimate goal of the course is to enable students to answer a research question via processing and analysing data, interpreting the output of the analysis and presenting it in a publication-quality style. The course is of specific interest to students willing to do an empirical thesis or wanting to continue their academic career by way of a PhD course.
Detailed program
Introduction
- why investing in learning data analysis and Stata
- fundamentals of data analysis
- basics of Stata
Topic 1 - analysis of the output gap and the FedFunds rate
- importing data from excel and csv files
- variable management (renaming, labelling, dropping)
- graphical representation of time series
- tables of summary statistics
- exporting graphs and summary stats
Topic 2 - analysis of unemployment for women after the 2008 crisis in the US
- merging different dataset
- working with dates in Stata
- collapsing data
- combining different graphs on the same file or on the same space
Topic 3 - effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on unemployment
- building maps in Stata
- simple correlation analysis (recap and implementation in Stata)
- linear interpolation
- questioning your own results
Topic 4 - analysis of the gender pay gap in the UK using the BHPS survey
- hypothesis testing and OLS regression (recap and implementation in Stata)
- interpreting the results of an OLS regression
- robustness
- exporting estimation results
Credits and assessment
The course is valid for extra credit recognition for EEBL students conditional to receiving a positive evaluation, which will be assessed via:
- attendance = no less than 80%
- group exercises during regular classes
- individual exercise on December 5th
Reference material
Slides, data and do files, which will be made available during the course;
Textbook: Cameron, A. C., & Trivedi, P. K.. Microeconometrics using STATA (Vol. 2). STATA press. Revised edition 2010. Chapters 1, 2 and 3.