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Statistics for Economists
Group Coursework Assignment
Introduction:
This assignment (Group Coursework) represents 25% of the overall module mark. All students of the same group will receive the same mark. If any of your group members do not participate actively (‘free-rides’) let the module or your seminar leader know as soon as possible so that actions can be taken.
For this group coursework you and your group members are required to write a report on the UK labour market. You will have to (1) collect, examine and present aggregated data using Excel and (2) set up and test three research questions with SPSS using a Census provided on the module web.
Aggregated data (‘country level data’) from OECD will be used to illustrate any changes in the UK labour market over time and to compare it with other OECD countries. This part is worth 40% of the overall mark. The 2011 Census Microdata file from the Office for National Statistics, which contains information on characteristics of UK residents, such as hours of work, health status, economic activity, etc., will be used. This part is worth 60% of the overall coursework mark. You can get some inspiration for research questions by watching the news, reading newspapers articles, etc.
The report will have the following structure:
• Title page (including Group number and names)
• Table of contents
• Part 1: Data analysis using aggregated data (Excel)
• Part 2: Data analysis using micro data (SPSS)
Information about Submission:
The assignment should be uploaded onto Turnitin on, or before, the deadline specified in the teaching plan (18:00 on Friday 30/03/18), by only ONE member of the group. You will need to produce your work in a single Word document. This means that any data and charts you produce in Excel or SPSS must be imported (copied) into Word. I recommend you to save your word file as pdf document and upload the pdf version of your report onto the Moodle link available in the ‘Assessment’ folder. This will ensure that all graphs and tables in your document are correctly displayed. Note that the Moodle link only accepts pdf or word (.doc/.docx) documents. Any other formats cannot be opened and will receive a mark of 0.
1 Part 1: Data analysis using aggregated data (Excel)
This part is worth 40% of the overall group coursework mark. This part should not be longer than 7 pages including any appendices. You will need to find and import data into Excel from the OECD website. Download the following data for the UK and three other OECD member countries of your choice for the period 2000 to
2012:
1. Harmonised unemployment rate. Hint: find the monthly harmonised unemployment rate and select annual data in the frequency selection.
2. Trade Union Density.
3. GDP, volume – annual growth rates in percentage.
4. Average annual wages in 2016 constant prices at 2016 USD PPPs.
Add all the raw data into the appendix of Part 1. Do not forget to present the data in a user-friendly format. (Hint: A precise description of a variable, i.e. what it measures, can be found by clicking on the ‘i’ next to the variable name.) Make sure that this part contains the following sections:
• Introduction
• Main Body
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendix
The work should be neat and tidy and easy to read. Also, it is very important to use a consistent referencing style for both in-text citations and the list of references displayed at the end of Part 1. Below, further information is given on what has to be included in the main body of Part 1.
Main Body
On your spreadsheet calculate the changes in the unemployment rate for the observation period and copy it into your Word document. Make sure that the data is well presented. The formula for changes is:
∆URt = URt −URt−1 (1)
Provide numeric descriptive statistics (Mean, Median, Max, Min, Interquartile Range, Std. Dev. and Skewness) for unemployment rate, trade union density, GDP growth rate and average annual wages for the UK and each of the selected three OECD member countries and describe them briefly. The numeric descriptive statistics have to be presented in a well formatted table.
(Maximum 200 words)
1. Create a line chart that compares unemployment rate of the UK with the unemployment rate of 3 other OECD member countries over the period 2000 – 2012.
2. Create a line chart that compares average wage of the UK with the average wages of 3 other OECD member countries over the period 2000 – 2012.
3. Create a scatter plot that shows the relationship between the GDP growth rate and the change in unemployment rate using data from the UK and 3 other OECD member countries.
4. Create a bar chart to compare the trade union density of the UK and 3 other OECD member countries for the years 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Charts have to be clearly labelled and presented. Describe briefly what each of your charts show.
(Maximum 300 words)
Use numeric and graphical descriptive statistics to illustrate to what extent the UK unemployment rate differs from the unemployment rate of other OECD member countries and use economic theory to explain any of those differences (think like an economist!!!). Note that (if necessary) you may create additional charts using the downloaded data to support your arguments. Extra marks will be awarded for evidence of research having been undertaken. This includes relevant references and quotes where appropriate. Any references should be shown within the text, in the standard manner of an academic paper. Extra Marks will also be awarded for the application of appropriate theory to the data.
(Maximum 600 words)
2 Part 2: Data analysis using micro level data
This part is worth 60% of the overall group coursework mark. This part of the report should not exceed 9 pages including appendices. On Moodle under the section ‘Assessment’ you will find a data file (CW2.sav) from the 2011 Census Microdata file of the Office for National Statistics. See below for details about the survey. You have to use this dataset for your report.
Part 2 should have the following structure:
• Aims of the investigation and hypotheses
• Descriptive statistics
• Hypothesis tests
• Summary/Conclusion
• References
• Appendix
Complete the following tasks:
Using the 2011 Census Microdata identify three research questions and highlight their importance. Set up your hypotheses. Show that you can think like an economist!
(Maximum 400 words)
In line with the aims of the investigation you provided generate descriptive statistics using tables and graphs with SPSS. You have to provide information for the reader about the sample and variables of interests.
(Maximum 300 words)
Set up and conduct hypotheses tests and interpret the results. This section should contain three hypothesis tests. At least one must be a cross tabulation table and associated χ2-tests and at least one should be a comparison-of-means test. The analysis of your results is very important. Do not just present the statistics with no explanations of what they show! You must discuss the results!!!! Use economic theory to explain your results.
(Maximum 900 words)
Summarise your main results and provide conclusions.
(Maximum 300 words)
A reduced form of the 2011 Census Micro Dataset is the dataset for this part of the assignment. This Microdata Teaching dataset consists of a random sample of 1% of people in the 2011 Census for England and Wales. This includes people classed as both usual residents and short-term residents. Specifically, the dataset includes:
• Records on 569,741 individuals
• For each individual, information is available on 18 separate characteristics, i.e. variables, with varying degrees of information for each variable.
For your coursework you will need to select variables of your interest. It is up to you which variables you use. The following categorical variables are included in the dataset:
Person ID, Region, Residence type, Family composition, Population base, Sex, Age, Marital status, Student (schoolchild or full-time student), Country of birth, Health (general health), Ethnic group, Religion, Economic activity, Occupation, Industry, Hours worked per week, Approximated social grade.
Additionally, two continuous variables were added by your tutor for the purposes of this assignment: Hours worked per week (continuous) and Age (continuous).[1]
You have to read the Microcensus User Guide and Microcensus Variable List (all available on Moodle under the Group Coursework section) to get a detailed explanation about the dataset and its variables. If you do not read those documents, you will not understand what each categorical variable measures.
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