ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

Before beginning on your assignment. SUBMIT A PROPOSAL to your instructor to ensure that the content is applicable to this course. A topic and a BRIEF outline of your plan will suffice.

There are two basic fundamental principles behind the assignment. The first is to be able to conduct research in Environmental or Resource economics. The task of finding information will familiarize you with the various sources of information that are available. The key to a successful research project is to be able to formulate a "Research Question". The Research Question is what you are attempting to prove or disprove. Modern research should be falsifiable. This means that you should be able to disprove certain theories or statements. It is often difficult to be able to actually prove a hypothesis. Generally you state that you can not prove that it is wrong. (Review hypothesis testing from intro econometrics ).

The second principle is your ability to understand the relevant theory that pertains to your research. The text book should be your first starting point. From there you should move to supplemental sources such as academic journals, trade magazines etc. The greater your understanding of the relevant issues the more effective your research will be.

If you have any questions about the assignment or the goals of the assignment talk to your instructor as soon as possible.

The finished paper should include the following:

The purpose of the paper (research question)
The relevant theories
Your research methodology
Your research conclusions and analysis
Appendix with data and any statistical work
Bibliography

The paper should be no less than 2500 words (not counting data and bibliography). Grammar, punctuation and writing style.