API-901 Syllabus Fall 2011

API-901: DOCTORAL RESEARCH SEMINAR

Professor Hannah Riley Bowles

Harvard Kennedy School

Fall 2011

Mondays 4:10 – 6:00pm in L382

CONTACT INFORMATION

Hannah Riley Bowles
Email:
Tel: (617) 496-4717
Office: T160 in Center for Public Leadership / Marsha Frazier (faculty assistant)
Email:
Tel: (617) 496-9669
Office: L107

See API-901 course page for class email addresses (under “Announcements”).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is required of all first-year PhD candidates in Public Policy. Permission of instructor required for other PhD candidates or special students.

The purpose of the course is to facilitate the development of students’ dissertation research ideas and to build community among Harvard Kennedy School doctoral students and faculty. The course will be run as a research seminar in which participants engage in constructive critique and discussion of research topics. Seven sessions will be devoted to presentations by Harvard Kennedy School faculty. During a day-long retreat at the end of the semester, students will present their research proposals.

CLASS PARTICIPATION AND ASSIGNMENTS

Class Participation. Thoughtful, prepared class participation is essential. The class is designed to give doctoral students opportunities to engage with their classmates and professors in conversations about the research process. Some conversations started in this seminar may continue through students’ doctoral career and beyond. Students should take full advantage of this opportunity to build their research community by engaging fully in class discussions with fellow students and faculty.

Preparation for Faculty Presentations. Harvard Kennedy School faculty will present on topics, such as generating research ideas, designing experiments, qualitative and field research methods, policy research, publishing your dissertation, and developing a research program. (See details below.) Faculty presentations will run from 4:10-5:30pm. We will dedicate the remainder of class to discussion of the students’ research proposals.

Student Comments/Questions. Each student will prepare a brief (max 250-word) set of comments and questions in preparation for two of the seven faculty presentations. The comments and questions should be motivated by the advance readings, but might also tap into broader questions of interest to doctoral students in the class (e.g., building upon earlier threads in the class discussion). Comments and questions should be posted to “Class Discussions” section of the API-901 Classpage by 5pm Friday before the respective faculty presentation. We will assign students to faculty presenters on the first day of class.

Following are a set of questions for students to keep in mind for all faculty presentations:

  1. What is the professor’s primary discipline?
  2. What (if any) other disciplines does s/he draw upon for motivation?
  3. How did s/he develop this research project?
  4. …the study design?
  5. …the analytic strategy?
  6. What are the advantages and limitations of her/his research methods?
  7. How does the research presented contribute to the academic literature?
  8. How does the research presented contribute to policy or practice?
  9. How does the research presented contribute to the professor’s personal research program?

Research Proposal. The primary assignment in this course is to develop a research proposal that could serve as the basis for dissertation research.

Research workshop. As noted above, the final 30 minutes of class will be devoted to discussion of students’ research proposals. On the first day of class, students will choose dates on which to present their research ideas to the group for feedback and suggestions and we will collectively select a date for the API-901 research retreat at which all students will present a research proposal.

Research inspiration. Before the first class session on September 12, students should identify a recent research publication (e.g., article, book) that is an inspiring model for their own research interests. The inspiration could be theoretical or methodological or stem from the type of practical impact that the research has achieved. On the first day of class, students will have about ten minutes to introduce themselves and to describe their “inspiring research” and how it relates to their personal research interests.

Note: For the final assignment, students will be required to gain feedback on their research ideas from a faculty member with relevant research interests or expertise. Therefore, students may want to spend their energies on this “research inspiration” assignment looking through the work of potential advisers.

Research presentation. During a day-long retreat at the end of the semester, students will present their own research proposals in the same style as a conference presentation. They will have 15 minutes to present, followed by 15 minutes for questions and comments.

Students should submit a 2-page (double-spaced, 12-pt font) summary of their research proposal via email to the entire class at least three days before the retreat.

Following is a suggested outline for the research proposals:

  1. Motivating Research Question
  2. Explanation of Why Question is Important
  3. Brief Review of Relevant Literature
  4. Proposed Method
  5. Overview of Research Design
  6. Research Population/Subjects
  7. Materials/Data Sources
  8. Measures
  9. Proposed Analyses
  10. Discussion
  11. Limitations of Research Methods
  12. Potential Contributions to the Literature

Final Paper. The final paper in the course will be an elaborated version of the proposal students submitted to the class. The revised proposal should reflect constructive feedback received during the retreat as well as feedback from at least one professor with related research interests or expertise. This five-page (double-spaced, 12-pt font) final research proposal is due by noon on Friday, December 16, 2011. Email an electronic copy of the research proposal to and submit a hard copy to Marsha Frazier in L107.

Preparing your final paper, keep in mind the quote from Cicero: “If I had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.” It may be challenging to articulate your research ideas succinctly in five double-spaced pages. But, the page limit is intended to help you communicate your research ideas clearly and efficiently, so that you are well poised to continue to seek out potential faculty advisers for feedback and guidance.

GRADING

Course grading will be on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis, reflective of the quality of students’ class participation and research proposal.


COURSE PAGE AND MATERIALS

To the extent possible, we have made advance readings available electronically through the API-901 Course Page. The one book assigned as advanced reading (for 10/17) is on HKS library reserve. We will distribute three chapters (for 9/26, 10/31, and 11/7) in class on Monday 9/19.

SCHEDULE

Week 1 (9/12): Introduction

·  Overview: Professor Bowles will provide an overview of the course.

·  Scheduling logistics: Students will select dates to post advance comments/questions for faculty presenters and to discuss their own research ideas in class. The class will collectively select a date for the research retreat.

·  Research ideas and inspirations: Students will introduce themselves, describe their research interests, and explain how/why they chose their inspiring research example (as described above).

Week 2 (9/19): Generating Research Ideas

Faculty Presenter: Professor Alberto Abadie

Background Readings:

Abadie, A. and Gardeazabal, J. (2003) The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country, American Economic Review, 93(1), 113-132.

Abadie, A., Diamond, A.and Hainmueller, J. (2010) Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California's Tobacco Control Program, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 105, 493-505.

Student Commenter(s): Juan Pablo Chauvin, Pamela Park, Tomoko Harigaya

Student Research Presenter(s): Adam Breuer, Sarah Cohodes


Week 3 (9/26): Natural Experiments

Presenter: Professor Brigitte Madrian

Background Reading:

Choi, J. J., Laibson, D., & Madrian, B. C. (2009). Mental Accounting in Portfolio Choice: Evidence from a Flypaper Effect, American Economic Review, 99(5), 2085-2095.

Carroll, G. D., Laibson, D., Madrian, B. C. (2009). Optimal Defaults and Active Decisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Laibson, D., Madrian, B. C., & Metrick, A. (2006). Saving for Retirement on the Path of Least Resistance, in Ed McCaffrey and Joel Slemrod (Eds.), Behavioral Public Finance: Toward a New Agenda.

Student Commenter(s): Adam Breuer, Nathan Fleming, Sarah Cohodes

Student Research Presenter(s): Pamela Park, Yeling Tan

Week 4 (10/3): Field Research Methods

Presenters: Professors David Yanagizawa-Drott and Todd Rogers

Background Readings:

Duflo, E., Glennerster, R., Kremer, M. (2007). Using Randomization in Development Economics Research: A Toolkit, T. Paul Schults and J. Strauss (Eds.) Handbook of Development Economics, North Holland: Elsevier Science Ltd., Vol. 4, pp. 3895-62. (See also NBER Technical Working Paper No. 333, December 2006.)

Nickerson, D. W. & Rogers, T. (2010). Do you have a voting plan? Implementation intentions, voter turnout, and organic plan making, Psychological Science, 21(2), 194-199.

Student Commenter(s): Elizabeth Linos, Juan Pablo Chauvin

Student Research Presenter(s): Jonathan Baker, Juan Pablo Chauvin

***NO CLASS ON 10/10 due to Columbus Day holiday

Week 5 (10/17): Historical Methods

Presenter: Professor Moshik Temkin

Background Readings:

Temkin, M (2009) The Sacco-Vanzetti Affair; America on Trial (Yale University Press)

(on HKS Library Researve)

Darnton, R. (2004) “It Happened One Night,” The New York Review, Vol. 51, No. 11,

June 24, 2004.

Student Commenter(s): Adam Breuer, Kristen Hunter, Yeling Tan

Student Research Presenter(s): Elizabeth Linos, Nathan Fleming

Week 7 (10/24): Policy Research

Presenter: Professor Joseph Aldy

Background Readings:

Viscusi, W. Kip and Joseph E. Aldy. 2003. “The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates throughout the World.” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 27(1): 5-76.

Aldy, Joseph E. and W. Kip Viscusi. 2008. “Adjusting the Value of a Statistical Life for Age and Cohort Effects.” Review of Economics and Statistics 90(3): 573-581.

Aldy, Joseph E. and W. Kip Viscusi. 2008. “Age Differences in the Value of Statistical Life: Revealed Preference Evidence.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 1(2): 241-260.

Student Commenter(s): Jonathan Baker, Sarah Cohodes, Tomoko Harigaya

Student Research Presenter(s): Kristen Hunter, Tomoko Harigaya

Week 6 (10/31): Qualitative Research Methods

Presenter: Professor Kathryn Edin

Background Readings:

Kling, J. R., Leibman, J. B., & Katz, L. F. (2004). Bullets Don’t Got No Name: Consequences of Fear in the Ghetto. (Working Paper) Harvard University, Princeton University, and NBER.

Clampet-Lundquist, S, Duncan, G. J., Edin, K., Kling, J. R. (2006). Moving At-Risk Teenagers Out of High-Risk Neighborhoods: Why Girls Fare Better Than Boys.

Lareau, A., (2006). Unequal Childhood: Class race and Family Life, American Journal of Sociology, 112, 635-636.

Liebow, Elliot. (2003). Tally’s Corner: A Study of Negro Streetcorner Men (pp. 29 - 71). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Student Commenter(s): Elizabeth Linos, Kristen Hunter, Yeling Tan

Student Research Presenter(s): TBD—possible general topic discussion

Week 8 (11/7): Developing a Research Program

Presenter: Professor Robert Stavins

Background Readings:

Bio and CV for Professor Stavins

Stavins, Robert N. (2000). A Two-Way Street Between Environmental Economics and Public Policy (Chapter 1). Environmental Economics and Public Policy: Selected Papers of Robert N. Stavins. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Student Commenter(s): Pamela Park, Jonathan Baker, Nathan Fleming

Student Research Presenter(s): TBD—possible general topic discussion

Final Retreat: Saturday, December 3rd

Tentative Schedule

8:30am – 9:00am Breakfast

9:00am – 10:30am Panel 1 (three presenters)

10:30am – 10:45am BREAK

10:45am – 12:15pm Panel 2 (three presenters)

12:15pm – 1:00pm LUNCH

1:00pm – 2:00pm Panel 3 (two presenters)

2:00pm – 2:15pm BREAK

2:15pm – 3:15pm Panel 4 (two presenters)

3:15pm – 3: 30pm Course Wrap-up

Final Research Proposals are due by noon on Friday, December16. Email an electronic copy to and submit a hard copy to Marsha Frazier in L107.

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