Notes to the 615/616 Syllabus
Abstract: A statement of the problem in 500 words or less. It should outline the extant knowledge and state succinctly the author's contribution. It seldom refers specifically to other research.
Annotated Bibliography: A conventional bibliography gives only essay title, journal, author and publication date. Annotating your bibliography involves writing 4 or 5 sentences to summarize the major finding(s) of the paper and its relevance to your research.
Once you sit down to write your paper its structure will be as follows:
I. Introduction - You will offer the reader a brief review of earlier contributions to the problem. Be sure to indicate how your contribution expands upon the earlier work.
II. The Model - This section can range from a formal mathematical model complete with comparative static or dynamic results, to a statement of the mathematical model and your intuition about it, to a carefully written essay about the model that is often used in investigations such as yours. Be careful to clearly state your testable hypotheses.
III. Empirical Results - Begin by describing your data in sufficient detail that a curious reader might reconstruct your database. Present the coefficient estimates of various specifications of the model. Explain why you presented more than one specification and which one you like the best. Discuss the patholog9ical diseases of regression you dealt with. Test your hypotheses and discus the results of the tests.
IV. Conclusion - Summarize your important contribution.
An very good example of an outline for a paper is offered by Karen Campbell (Fall 2003)