Research and Methods (AEM 6991)

Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Fall Semester 2021
Class time: Wednesday, 2:40–5:10 pm in Riley-Robb Hall 105.
Instructors: Prof. Mark Constas (MC), [email protected]
Prof. Aija Leiponen (AL), [email protected]
Prof. Daniela Scur (DS), [email protected]
Teaching assistants: Tsenguunjav Byambasuren, [email protected]

Office hours: Prof. Constas: Friday 10:30am-12pm on Zoom or by appointments

Prof. Leiponen: Tuesday, Thursday 9-10am on Zoom
Prof. Scur: Wednesday, 11am-12pm on Zoom
Monday, 10:30am-11:30am on Slack
TA Tsenguunjav: Thursday 2-4pm on Zoom

Administrative assistant: Jen Reynolds [email protected]

Course Overview
As a core course for Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Applied Economics and
Management, Research and Methods provides students with the opportunity to explore strategies
for behavioral, quantitative, and qualitative problem-solving projects. We consider the conceptual
challenges associated with identifying and defining a project topic and examine the practical tasks
of selecting or collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting the results, including visualization
and writing. The objective of the course is for students to understand how problems associated
with different kinds of projects can be addressed with empirical methods. Many course activities
will be structured as teamwork, and team leadership and management skills are a major
component of the course. The course topics are introduced through readings, class discussion,
and independent team-based research. In-class discussions play a central role, and students are
expected to prepare for each class ahead of time through reading, writing, and analysis. Students
will start their problem-solving projects early in the semester and regularly make presentations to
demonstrate progress and obtain feedback. The final output is a completed proposal for a project
that will be executed during the spring semester within AEM 6992.
Instructional Approach and Course Outcomes
AEM 6991 is structured as a graduate seminar that requires students to work both individually
and in project teams. The individual work ensures that each student is engaged at the level
needed to gain requisite knowledge and skills in research methods and in making presentations.
The group work provides an opportunity to apply skills and knowledge to the task of designing a
problem-solving project and drafting a project plan. The main outcomes for the course can be
expressed as five main abilities.
 ● Team-work – ability to work effectively in small groups and to complete tasks in time
and with equitable allocation of work among group members.
● Problem Focus – ability to select and define a project problem that demonstrates the
relevant knowledge and articulates the significance of the problem.
● Project design and workplan – ability to develop a methodologically rigorous research
design and the ability to identify key project tasks and outputs.
● Presentation of progress – ability to write about, present, and discuss the project in
class and with analytical rigor.

An overarching objective of AEM 6991 is to help students approach problem-solving projects

critically by drawing on the principles of social sciences that are used to assess the integrity of
research and judge the validity of findings.
Classroom behavioral expectations
All lecture notes, recordings, and class materials will be available on Canvas after class, so you
are able to actively listen and participate.
When in class, focus on the topic and make an effort to participate in the conversation. Class
discussions help you not only learn the content but also prepare you for professional and public
discussions of complex topics.
We expect everyone to take notes by hand. There are many studies that show that hand-written
note-taking leads to better learning outcomes. Keep all electronic devices, especially phones, in
your bag during class, unless expressly told otherwise (or if you have an SDS exception).
You will receive name cards on the first/second week of class – please make sure you pick up
your name card every day before class and place it prominently in front of you.

Readings
Primary readings for the course will be drawn from Research Methods for Graduate Business and
Social Science Students (Adams et al, 2007). The book is available as an e-book through the
Cornell University library at http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/10.4135/9788132108498.
Readings and resources will also be drawn from scientific journals and web-based resources.
Course readings and other course resources will be posted on Canvas. To provide an opportunity
for teams to become familiar with the literature on their respective topics, some of the readings will
be selected by each group. These readings, which are noted as “team self-assigned” in the course
calendar, should provide background information on the conceptual, methodological, and empirical
aspects related to group problem solving projects.

Work Requirements and Grading

Work requirements for the class include both individual and group assignments. In addition,
active participation in class discussion is an expectation for the course.
All papers should be submitted in 11-point font, 1.5 line spacing, with 1-inch margins IN PDF TO
GRADESCOPE. Gradescope can be accessed via Canvas.
Individual Assignments
● Project Topic Statement (part of participation grade, see below)
○ Purpose – provide each student with an initial opportunity to express what you
view as a potentially interesting topic (or topics).
○ Format – Address the following questions (use bolded text as headings)
■ General interest – What is a topic or topics of interest to you within your
selected concentration? Feel free to describe one or multiple topics.
■ Motivating questions – What are some specific managerial or policy
questions or puzzling observations that you might want to explore?
■ Importance – What makes the pursuit of these topics/questions
important to you or to someone else?
○ Expected length: The expected length of this assignment is one or two pages
○ Due date: September 3 by 11:59 p.m. EST. A template for this assignment is
provided in Attachment A.

● Reading Notes (RN) (10% of overall grade)

o Purpose – Document key points from readings and prepare for class discussion.
o Format – Use the template shown in Attachment B to address the points outlined in
the template.
o As the RNs are a resource for your learning, you may choose to construct RNs by
including direct quotes (with quotations and page numbers), by paraphrasing, or by
writing your own text that reflects your understanding.
o Grading – Each question is worth 0.5 points, such that when you address all
questions you earn 2 points for each reading for a given week, 0.5-1.5 points are
earned if some questions are not addressed. A student will be given 0 points when
an RN is not submitted on time.
o Expected length – One page for each reading, using the template in the attachment
o Due dates – 5:00 p.m. the day before class meeting for which readings are
assigned. See class calendar for details. Submit RNs via Gradescope.
o One RN should be completed for each chapter. Students need to submit 10
individual RNs (out of 14 options) for a full score.

● Mid-term Exam (20%)

○ Purpose – to demonstrate mastery of basic concepts of research methods
○ Process – you can use your completed RNs as a resource.
○ Format – application-oriented short answer questions
○ Date: Oct 20th, in class
Group Assignments
● Topic Proposal 1: Team Project Problem Proposal
○ Purpose: Provide a first draft of the research problem with theoretical and practical
justifications to be discussed and refined during the in-class workshop.
○ Format: Address the following questions using the bolded text as headings
■ Topic – what topic has your group decided to study?
■ Practical justification – what is the practical business or economic
problem which your project will address and why is important?
■ Theoretical justification – What is the current state of knowledge (in
brief terms) on your topic? What is known and what is not yet known?
■ Conceptual model – How would you present the problem graphically to
describe how the various ideas/concepts are connected to one another
(causally or otherwise)?
■ Work plan – What are the next steps that will be taken to deepen your
knowledge of the research topic?
○ Expected length: Approximately 1-page including the main points for each
argument. It will serve as the basis for the final 3-page paper.
○ Due date: September 21 by 11:59 p.m. EST via Gradescope
● Topic Proposal draft 2: Team Project Problem Presentation and Paper (10% of
overall grade)
○ Purpose: Provide a coherent statement of the research problem with the theoretical
and practical justification that articulates the significance of a selected research
problem.
○ Format: same as Proposal 1.
○ Expected length: The paper should be approximately 3 pages. The PowerPoint
presentation of the assignment should be organized as a 3-5 slides, 5-minute
presentation.
○ Due date: Presentations on Sept 22nd, paper due on Sept 24th, 11:59 p.m. EST
● Paper 3: Literature Review Paper (10% of grade)
○ Purpose: Provide an overview of relevant literature and offer an argument for the
theoretical and practical significance of the research topic
○ Format: Address the following questions, using bolded text as headings)
■ Research problem/question – what is the research problem and
question(s) around which the project will be focused? Revise and update
based on the feedback you have received on Paper 2.
■ Organization of the review – what are the main topics that will be
examined and how will you select and review readings?
■ Review findings – summarize the key studies and their relationships and
explain what you learned from the literature.
■ Conclusions – what are the main existing insights related to your project
topic and how does it help you refocus your research problem to address
what is not yet known?
o Expected length: The paper should be approximately 5 pages.
 o Due date: Oct 15 by 11:59 p.m. EST
● Project Research Design Presentation (10% of grade)
○ Purpose – describe how you will collect data in support of your project
objectives.
○ Format – Address the following, using the bolded text as subheadings
■ Methodological approach – What is the overall empirical strategy?
■ Study sample – How will the study sample be constructed?
■ Data source/data collection – How will data be gathered and
organized?
■ Internal validity – What are the potential sources of biased inference and
how will you address those?
■ External validity – Will the insights gained from the research apply
outside of the context of the study?
o Length – The PowerPoint presentation should be organized as a 5-slide, 5-
minute presentation.
o Due date – presentation on Nov 10th, in class.

● Final Project Plan Presentation and Paper 4 (30% of grade)

○ Purpose – To consolidate learning and integrate work completed over the
semester in the form of a project plan to be executed during the spring semester.
○ Format – The final paper and presentation should be organized under the
following headings:
■ Research problem – State motivation and questions for the project
■ Literature review – Describe focus and findings associated with literature
review
■ Project/research design and procedures – Describe the
methodological approach and the process of data collection
■ Data analysis – Describe methods used to organize and analyze data
that serve the research objectives
■ Limitations and self-critique – Assess strengths and weaknesses of the
study drawing on knowledge of internal and external validity
■ Feedback statement – Summarize how you responded to feedback
received
■ Research ethics – Identify any ethical issues associated with the
proposed research and steps taken to ensure ethical treatment of study
participants
○ Length – 6-8 slides, 10-minute presentation in class. A project plan of max. 4000
words submitted via Gradescope.
○ Due date: Presentations on Dec 1; paper Dec 10 by 11:59 p.m.
Class Participation and Professionalism (10% of grade)
Graduate study requires high levels of engagement. Forms of engagement important for AEM
6991 include participation in class, discussions on Slack, responsiveness to questions that are
posed to the class, and a general willingness to share views and ideas. 100 percent attendance
is expected but if you have an important reason to be absent once, please let the TAs know. You
are expected to be actively engaged in class. There are two additional elements of class
participation and professionalism:

• Peer evaluation of performance in group project teams

o Twice in the semester we will ask for your input on the performance of your team.
Attachment C shows the criteria and format that will be used for the review.
o Submission of workshop items: Paper 1 (Project Topic Statement) and Proposal
1 are both graded based on completion, as they are crucial inputs into class
discussion. As such, they are not graded on content but rather on completion and
make up part of your participation grade.

• English language – At Cornell University, English is the language of instruction. This

means that English is the only allowable language during class time. While you may
choose to use a language other than English during breaks and outside of class, the
language in class and in team meetings must be restricted to English.

Academic Integrity

Please familiarize yourself with the code of conduct. A website of resources is available from The
Dean of the Faculty, including a manual that provides the actual code. Any work you submit is
assumed be if your own creation; collaboration is allowed only in Team assignments and in
projects. Also, we will utilize Turnitin software to detect plagiarism on select assignments:
Students agree by taking this course that all required papers may be subject to submission for
textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will
be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose
of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the Usage
Policy posted on the Turnitin.com site. Finally, copying or posting course materials onto any
website, commercial or other, is considered copyright violation and classroom misconduct. All
instances will be investigated and may lead to a grade penalty.

Citations

All assignments should adhere to the citation and referencing conventions provided by the
American Psychological Association. Some basic rules for citation and referencing follow:
• A citation (author, date) must be used if an idea or information (including facts and
figures) expressed in writing is not yours. Acknowledgement of the source must be
provided. The citation should be inserted directly in the text adjacent to the idea that was
expressed
 • Quotation marks (and citation with the page number following the quote) should be used
if you used phrase that is a verbatim reproduction taken directly from published text
• References should take the form: Author last name, first initial, published date, title of
article or chapter, volume (if a journal article) page numbers, publisher’s name, location
of publication.
• If material (and idea or quotation) was taken from a web-source, that details for the
source must be provided in the reference list (with citation in the text of the paper
For additional guidance on citation and referencing methods, with examples, please
see: https://www.library.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/apa_2010.pdf

Late policy

To receive 100% of the available grade score, you must submit your assignments before the
deadlines. If you submit after the stated deadline (up to 8 hours after) you will be assessed a 10%
penalty. If you submit between +8 hours and 72 hours after the deadline, you will receive 50% of
the available grade score. If you submit later than 72h from the deadline, you will receive 0. If you
have an extenuating reason to not submit your assignment on time, notify the instructors before
the deadline to make alternative arrangements.

Inclusion Statement

At the SC Johnson College of Business, through our courses, student organizations, and School-
and College-wide events and activities, we are presented with many opportunities to explore new
and challenging issues. Some of these issues are familiar to us and some of them are not. We
hope that through honest, open, and sincere dialogue and meaningful interaction with others we
will introduce, extend, increase, and/or change our understanding of different people and
their perspectives. Our conversations and interactions may not always be easy and may lead to
discomfort for you or others around you.

We will sometimes make mistakes in our communication with one another, in both speaking and
listening; we will sometimes need to exercise patience, or courage, or imagination, and
many other qualities in combination to ensure we respect each other’s differences and
similarities, both inside and outside of the classroom. We will always need to maintain respect for
others’ experiences and viewpoints and strive to deepen our understanding of diverse
perspectives – regardless of our backgrounds, experiences, or positions.

Just as you are obligated to respect others’ perspectives, you deserve that same respect in
return. You all belong here and if any incident occurs that challenges our commitment
to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment, please let your course instructor or a
member of the School or College administration know of your concerns so appropriate actions
can be taken to ensure a diverse and inclusive environment.
 CONSOLIDATED COURSE CALENDAR: AEM 6691 FALL 2020

Date Topics Readings and RN Due Dates

I. IiIICourse Introduction and Teamwork
Sep 1 (A) Course introduction and core objectives (MC/AL/DS) No assigned readings
(B) Overview of project structure and PSPT (MC)
3 Paper 1 due by 11:59pm – Project Topic Statement (individual assignment)
8 (A) Research problems and research questions (MC) Chapters 1-3 (RN1 due Sep 7)
(B) Group topic discussions Haas & Mortensen (RN2 due Sep 7)
Research problems
15 (A) Team management (AL) Wu, Wang & Evans and Taylor &
(B) Literature review (AL) Greve (RN3 due Sep 14)
Chapter 4 (RN4 due Sep 14)
21 1-page summary of Group Project Problem Statement due by 11:59pm (completion)
22 Guest: Writing center workshop (AL) No assigned readings
Problem statements (AL/MC/DS) Presentations in class
24 Paper 2 due by 11:59pm – Group Project Problem Statement due
II. Data Collection Strategies
29 Data collection strategies (DS) Chapters 5-7 (RN5 due Sep 28)
Guest: Matt McGranaghan, University of Delaware
Lerner College of Business (Scraping, 30-45 min)
Oct 6 (A) The importance of causality (MC) Varian, 2016 (RN6 due Oct 5)
(B) Basics of quantitative research and analysis (MC) WEF I, 2016 and WEF II (no RN)
Chapter 11 (RN7 due Oct 5)

Fall Break: Oct 9-12

13 Experimental research applications (DS) Levitt & List, 2008 NBER (p. 1-45)
Guest: Joy Wu (LMU Munich) – 45 min (RN8 due Oct 8)
Guest: Kevin Kniffin (LEEDR Lab) – 45min IRB course (due Oct 13)
15 Paper 3 due by 11:59 EST – Group Project Literature Review
20 In-class mid-term (on Canvas, bring computer) Chapter 8 (RN9 due Oct 19)
Surveys (DS) + WMS exercise Scur et al. 2021 (RN10 due Oct 19)
27 (A) Measurement and quality (MC) Chapter 14 (RN11 due Oct 26)
(B) Mixed methods research (MC) Molina-Azorin, 2016 (RN12 due Oct
26)
Nov 3 (A) Qualitative research and interviewing (AL) Chapters 9-10 (RN13 due Nov 2)
(B) Research ethics (AL) Jemna, 2016 (RN14 due Nov 2)
III. Project Design
10 Project/research design presentations (AL/MC/DS) No assigned readings.

17 Visualization (AL) No assigned readings (graph

Bring Your Graph to Class exercise (AL/DS) exercise)
Thanksgiving break Nov 24-28
Dec 1 Final project presentations (MC/AL/DS) No assigned readings
10 Paper 4 due by 11:59pm – Final Project Plan
 Attachment A
Applied Economics and Management
Master of Professional Studies

Potential Topics for Project Work (2 pages max)

1. Select Concentration (insert X to indicate your concentration)

( ) Behavioral Finance
( ) Behavioral Marketing
( ) Business of Food
( ) International and Development Economics
( ) Sustainable Business and Economic Policy
( ) Technology Management

2. Topics of interest and questions – what is the topic (or topics) within your
concentration that might be of interest to you? What are some questions you might want
to pursue in connection with this topic?

3. Importance (and prioritization) – Why do you think this problem is worth pursuing as
project (if you presented more than one topic select an argue for what you view as your
highest priority topic)?

4. Value for you – In what ways will working on a project focused on this support your
professional goals and aspirations?
 Attachment B

Applied Economics and Management

AEM 6991

Reading Note Template

Maximum of two pages (11-point font, 0.5-inch margins)

What are the main objectives of the readings?

What are the main points that were made in the readings?

What are the key definitions that are important to know as part of the readings?

What did you feel was the most important/impactful part of this reading for you?

What topics or concepts (if any) you would like the professors to clarify or elaborate in
class? (optional)
 Attachment C
Applied Economics and Management
AEM 6991: Peer Evaluation

Team member names

1. Your name:
2.
3.
4.
5.

2. Are you concerned about any other team member’s evaluation of you?

3. Please respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each question:

Member name Attends Participates in Writes Is a “team

meetings? discussions? assignments? player”?
Self

4. Please assign a percentage of “fair effort” expended by each of the team members (fair effort
that everybody should expend = 100%, no effort whatsoever = 0%, twice the effort you would
have expected from any individual = 200%).

Member name Preparation for Writing of Preparation for

group meetings assignments presentations
Self

5. On a scale of 1 (very bad experience) - 5 (very good experience), how would you evaluate
your overall “team experience” in this class thus far? _____