ECM701: Frontiers of Economic Research

Module code: ECM701

Module provider: Economics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr Joo Young Jeon, email: j.jeon@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Neha Hui, email: n.hui@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 12 September 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This compulsory module will provide students with an overview and understanding of how to critically review research papers. Students will also learn the role of the literature review in the doctoral thesis; the practicalities of constructing a literature review (surveying the literature; structuring the review; what should and should not be included and so forth); and the requirements for a good literature review (a critical and analytical approach, applied to both arguments and methodology, which demonstrates the need for the thesis research, the viability of the project, and the suitability of the proposed methodology). Students will also learn how to communicate research effectively. The module will be structured around a series of readings and presentations designed to sharpen students' academic judgment and presentation skills via presentation and discussion of seminal works in the literature as well as their own prospective research. Students will be tasked to give a critical assessment of one or more seminal papers in front of their peers. This will ultimately result in the preparation of a referee report. The course covers two terms.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of surveying and reviewing the literature
2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of structuring a literature review and the requirements of a good literature review
3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of critically evaluating research in various sub-fields of economics research
4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of writing a referee report for a paper in their subject area
5. Demonstrate a critical understanding of presenting a seminal study and acting as a discussant for an additional study
6. Contribute to the discussion during research seminars

Module content

The module addresses these issues through weekly one-hour workshops. The workshops will cover the following content:

• Searching for literature in a particular field
• Reviewing unpublished documents
• Structuring and writing a literature review
• How to make research presentations
• How to review and discuss other researchers’ studies and presentation
• How to write a referee report

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be structured around a series of readings and presentations, designed to sharpen students' academic judgment and presentation skills via presentation and discussion of research papers at various stages of development, as well as their own prospective research. Students are expected to attend and contribute to the PhD research seminar series. Students are also encouraged to attend internal and external research seminar series. Students will be tasked with giving a critical assessment of one or more seminal papers. Papers are proposed by different staff members, each staff member will be attending the session in which their proposed paper is presented. Students will attend an induction session about postgraduate research and a session about the assessment for this module.

Study hours

At least 30 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs