Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Econ 191:Presenting Results

Issi Romem

March 20, 2012

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The task

So you’ve done your research:

You’ve come up with an important research question thatis interesting, too.

You’ve figured out a strategy for answering the question.

You’ve read the literature.

You’ve collected the data / set up a model.

You’ve run regressions / solved your model.

You have results!

How do you report them to your reader?

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Figure out your main point

Figure out your main point!

You probably have many points to make.

Figure out what your single most important message is.

Ask yourself: “if my reader goes away with only one new thinghe/she has learned, what should it be?”

Make sure that point is absolutely clear to your reader!

If your reader misses it, e.g. because it’s tucked away intable 3 (even if it’s in bold font), that undermines yourwhole paper.

Only when the main point is clear, start worrying aboutless important results.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Figure out your main point

Figure out your main point!

You probably have many points to make.

Figure out what your single most important message is.

Ask yourself: “if my reader goes away with only one new thinghe/she has learned, what should it be?”

Make sure that point is absolutely clear to your reader!

If your reader misses it, e.g. because it’s tucked away intable 3 (even if it’s in bold font), that undermines yourwhole paper.

Only when the main point is clear, start worrying aboutless important results.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Figure out your main point

Figure out your main point!

You probably have many points to make.

Figure out what your single most important message is.

Ask yourself: “if my reader goes away with only one new thinghe/she has learned, what should it be?”

Make sure that point is absolutely clear to your reader!

If your reader misses it, e.g. because it’s tucked away intable 3 (even if it’s in bold font), that undermines yourwhole paper.

Only when the main point is clear, start worrying aboutless important results.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Figure out your main point

Figure out your main point!

You probably have many points to make.

Figure out what your single most important message is.

Ask yourself: “if my reader goes away with only one new thinghe/she has learned, what should it be?”

Make sure that point is absolutely clear to your reader!

If your reader misses it, e.g. because it’s tucked away intable 3 (even if it’s in bold font), that undermines yourwhole paper.

Only when the main point is clear, start worrying aboutless important results.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Figure out your main point

Figure out your main point!

You probably have many points to make.

Figure out what your single most important message is.

Ask yourself: “if my reader goes away with only one new thinghe/she has learned, what should it be?”

Make sure that point is absolutely clear to your reader!

If your reader misses it, e.g. because it’s tucked away intable 3 (even if it’s in bold font), that undermines yourwhole paper.

Only when the main point is clear, start worrying aboutless important results.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The power of figures (and tables, but not as much)

Very often the whole “story” can be told with figures. Embracethis.

Many (most?) of us are visual thinkers and find it easierto understand and remember a picture than a set ofequations or numbers.

Figures are quick and memorable.

Figures are a great way of presenting both empirical andtheoretical results.

Ideally, your reader should be able to get the gist of yourpaper by skimming over your tables and figures, so theyought to be as self-contained as possible in terms of theinformation they contain. A long caption beneath a figureor notes below a table are ok.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The power of figures (and tables, but not as much)

Very often the whole “story” can be told with figures. Embracethis.

Many (most?) of us are visual thinkers and find it easierto understand and remember a picture than a set ofequations or numbers.

Figures are quick and memorable.

Figures are a great way of presenting both empirical andtheoretical results.

Ideally, your reader should be able to get the gist of yourpaper by skimming over your tables and figures, so theyought to be as self-contained as possible in terms of theinformation they contain. A long caption beneath a figureor notes below a table are ok.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The power of figures (and tables, but not as much)

Very often the whole “story” can be told with figures. Embracethis.

Many (most?) of us are visual thinkers and find it easierto understand and remember a picture than a set ofequations or numbers.

Figures are quick and memorable.

Figures are a great way of presenting both empirical andtheoretical results.

Ideally, your reader should be able to get the gist of yourpaper by skimming over your tables and figures, so theyought to be as self-contained as possible in terms of theinformation they contain. A long caption beneath a figureor notes below a table are ok.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

The power of figures (and tables, but not as much)

Very often the whole “story” can be told with figures. Embracethis.

Many (most?) of us are visual thinkers and find it easierto understand and remember a picture than a set ofequations or numbers.

Figures are quick and memorable.

Figures are a great way of presenting both empirical andtheoretical results.

Ideally, your reader should be able to get the gist of yourpaper by skimming over your tables and figures, so theyought to be as self-contained as possible in terms of theinformation they contain. A long caption beneath a figureor notes below a table are ok.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Less is more

As modern architects say “less is more.”1

Your paper is a crafted argument. It is more importantthat you present relevant results, than all of your results.

This can be a bit painful, because results require a lot ofhard work to come by...

...but it will make your paper clearer, and easier to read.

1Of course, post-modern architects add “...and less is also a bore”.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Less is more

As modern architects say “less is more.”1

Your paper is a crafted argument. It is more importantthat you present relevant results, than all of your results.

This can be a bit painful, because results require a lot ofhard work to come by...

...but it will make your paper clearer, and easier to read.

1Of course, post-modern architects add “...and less is also a bore”.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Less is more

As modern architects say “less is more.”1

Your paper is a crafted argument. It is more importantthat you present relevant results, than all of your results.

This can be a bit painful, because results require a lot ofhard work to come by...

...but it will make your paper clearer, and easier to read.

1Of course, post-modern architects add “...and less is also a bore”.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

Some tips regarding the presentation of models:

Stick to familiar notation.

It will help your readers follow you more easily.It could also help highlight where you break away fromprevious work.

Be clear and straightforward.

Create a sub-section called “setup” (or something similar),where you provide all of the assumptions necessary tocharacterize your model. Numbering your assumptionsmay seem silly, but it is usually a good idea.Solve your model in a separate sub-section. If you haveany doubts about what is clear... explain it explicitly. Evenif it is very simple.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing theoretical papers...

You may also want to check out a (thin and inexpensive) bookcalled:

“A Guide for the Young Economist” by William Thomson.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

Empirical results are usually presented in tables and/or graphs.

When you have many numbers to present, e.g. a long timeseries, it makes sense to use a graph.

When you have a few numbers to present, they are moreconveniently (and accurately) shown in a table.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

Empirical results are usually presented in tables and/or graphs.

When you have many numbers to present, e.g. a long timeseries, it makes sense to use a graph.

When you have a few numbers to present, they are moreconveniently (and accurately) shown in a table.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

How do I structure a table?

The title needs to be precise, even if it is long, e.g. “theconditional black-white test score gap: 1974 vs. 1983”.

Separate regressions usually appear in separate columns.

Always report the number of observations.

For estimators, it almost always makes sense to reportstandard errors.

Report only coefficients of interest.

All additional details should appear in the notes beneaththe table. It is ok if these notes are bulky.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Finally, for all of you...

You might benefit from checking out this tutorial on writingeconomics research papers:

www.economics.harvard.edu/files/WritingEconomics.pdf

In particular, have a look at the subsection starting on page 25,called “presenting your results”.

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

Example:

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

For those of you writing empirical papers...

Another example:

Econ 191:PresentingResults

Issi Romem

Good luck!