AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 520
Research Methodology,
Spring 2008

INSTRUCTOR - Dr. Roland K. Roberts.

OBJECTIVES - At the completion of this course students will be able to:

      1. Understand the definitional, conceptual, and philosophical aspects of research methodology
      2. Plan and organize a research project
      3. Understand how to report research findings

TEXT - Ethridge, Don. Research Methodology in Applied Economics. 2th edition, 2004. Read the text before every class meeting according to the course outline below.

GRADING - Final grades will be assigned as a weighted average of grades received on quizzes, classroom participation, a research proposal and peer evaluation of another student’s proposal. The weights are:

Quizzes	15%	Nine quizzes, one per class period, drop lowest one.
Classroom Participation	5%	Read text every day and participate in class   discussions.
Proposal and Peer Evaluation	80%	Proposal not more than ten double-spaced pages of text; peer review of another student’s proposal.
Extra Credit Points	2%	If your Major Professor or Work Supervisor reviews and edits your research proposal during the writing process. I encourage you to ask him/her to review and edit your proposal throughout the writing process, not just the final draft.
	------- 102%	(Anyone who receives 90% or better will receive an A.)

READING ASSIGNMENTS - I will not announce reading assignments in class. You are expected to review the course outline below every day to keep up with reading assignments and read the assigned material prior to class on the date listed. If an appendix is mentioned in a chapter that is assigned for reading, the appendix is also assigned for reading. Classroom discussions and participation are based on the assumption that you have completed the reading assignment prior to class. If classroom discussions get behind the dates listed in the course outline, the dates of the reading assignments will still be valid for the quizzes until I hand out a revised course outline.

QUIZZES – A quiz with ten true/false questions will be given at the end of class every day we meet, except the first day. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Quizzes will cover the material in the reading assignment due the day of the quiz as given in the course outline below. If you miss a quiz because you are sick or for any reason, you must count it as your lowest quiz score and drop it from consideration in the quiz grade. I strongly suggest that you come to every scheduled class meeting and that you come on time. There will be no makeup quizzes.

CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION – This is a grade for your classroom participation and reading. It will be assigned at the end of the semester. Be on time to class, alert, attentive, know the material from the reading assignment, and participate in classroom discussions. At the top of each quiz, I will ask you to verify that you have completed the day’s reading assignment prior to class.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL AND PEER EVALUATION – Write a research proposal for your thesis, a research paper required for another class, or for another research project you or a professor are interested in doing. The proposal should be in Word, double-spaced; 12-point Times New Roman font; 1-inch margins all around; ten pages or less excluding references, tables, and figures; and written according to the material found in Chapter 5 and other relevant chapters of the text. Also, you will be required to review another student’s proposal and provide constructive comments and suggestions for improvement. All written material must be in Word and submitted via email as an attachment.

Maximum possible percentage points will be assigned as follows:

1      point if you present your research topic and title to me in my office (bring a three-sentence explanation of the research problem and title to the meeting) and receive my approval before 5:00 PM Thursday, January 17 (you are responsible for scheduling the meeting with me; grade of 0 or 1 will be base on timeliness and whether you consulted with your major professor or work supervisor before meeting with me);

4      points if you submit a good draft of your title, identifying information, problem identification and explanation, research objectives, and a list of references cited before the beginning of class on Friday, February 15 according to information found in Chapter 5 and other relevant chapters of the text (quality and timeliness will determine grade from 0-4 points; citations and references must be according to Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics guidelines);

5      points if you submit a revised draft of your title, identifying information, problem identification and explanation and research objectives, and a good draft of your literature review, conceptual framework, methods and procedures, and references to me, your peer reviewer, and your major professor or work supervisor before Noon on Friday, March 28 according to information found in Chapter 5 and other relevant chapters of the text. This submission constitutes a good draft of your entire research proposal (timeliness and quality of your draft proposal will determine grade from 0-5 points);

5      points if you submit your peer review to the proposal author and to me before Noon on Friday, April 4, via an email attachment. You should use the Track Changes option in Word for your review. Quality will be determined by the usefulness of the comments and suggestions and by whether you (the reviewer) demonstrate understanding of the contents of a research proposal according to Chapter 5 of the text and other relevant chapters (timeliness, relevance of the comments and suggestions, and quality of the review will determine grade from 0-5 points);

65      points for timeliness of submission, overall quality of the proposal, and whether you incorporated the reviewer’s, your major professor’s, and my comments and suggestions into the final proposal. The proposal must have a title page that includes the Title and Identifying Information and the body of the proposal must include the following major headings: Problem Identification and Explanation, Research Objectives, Review of Literature, Conceptual Framework, Methods and Procedures, and References. Maximum quality points will be allocated as follows according to information found in Chapter 5 and other relevant chapters of the text:

5      points if your final proposal is submitted to me before Noon on Friday, April 18, in Word via email attachment;

5      points for Title and Identifying Information;

5      points for Problem Identification and Explanation;

5      points for Research Objectives;

15      points for Review of Literature;

10      points for Conceptual Framework;

15      points for Methods and Procedures;

5      points if references are properly cited in the text and listed in the Reference section as required by the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (see copies of the journal and look up guidelines on the web).

OFFICE HOURS - Please see me after class, call me (974-7482), e-mail me (rrobert3@utk.edu), or drop by my office (308B Morgan Hall) any time for help in understanding course material, except in the morning before class Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and between 11:30 am and 2:00 pm every day. If I am busy, we can schedule an appointment for another time. If I am out of the office, let my Mary Gage know when you will be coming back to see me. I will try to be in my office when you return or I will try to find you. Please see me about your proposal any time you have questions. Do not wait until the last minute.

COURSE OUTLINE -