Checklist for Evaluating a Research Paper

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This scale describes a variety of characteristics I look for when evaluating your research papers. You should use this checklist to check your research process to be sure that it conforms to my standards and the paper is well written. See the The Matrix of Research Success below.  

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1. Papers with these characteristics receive a grade of A: The paper is based on your empirical research and it is well written. The empirical research: 

• It has a research question 
• It contains a survey of the relevant literature about such a questions 
• It is based on a conceptual framework learned in this course: 
• it uses an economic model 
• it lists the hypothesis suggested by the model 
• You find and use a set of relevant data 
• You adopt a methodology to make sense of the data 
• You use computer programs (e.g. Excel, Lotus, QPro, etc.) to process the data 
• You estimate the empirical relationships between the explained and explanatory factors 
• You analyze the above results in terms of economics 
• You compare the found relationships with your hypothesis 
• If they contradict the hypothesis, you offer explanations 
• You provide some insightful, creative, comments 
• You write the paper according with conventional style manuals 
• You present the Outline, First Paper Draft, and Final Paper 

2. Papers with these characteristics receive a grade of B: The paper is based on your empirical research but it has some of the following limitations: 

• It has a research question 
• but its survey of the literature is not specific to the question 
• It is based on a conceptual framework learned in this course: 
• it uses an economic model 
• but it does not list the hypothesis suggested by the model 
• You find and use a set of relevant data 
• and you adopt a methodology to make sense of the data 
• but you do not process well the data 
• and you estimate empirical relationships between the explained and explanatory factors 
• In your analysis, 
• you do not compare the found relationships with your hypothesis 
• and if they contradict the hypothesis, you do not offer explanations 
• or you do not provide some insightful, creative, comments 
• You write the paper in acceptable English 
• but you do not present the Outline or the First Paper Draft. 

1. Papers with these characteristics receive a grade of C: The paper is based on your empirical research but it has some of the following limitations: 

• It has a research question 
• but its survey of the literature is not specific to the question 
• It is based on a conceptual framework learned in this course: 
• but it does not make explicit the formal economic model 
• and it does not list the hypothesis suggested by the model 
• You find and use a set of relevant data 
• and you adopt a methodology to make sense of the data 
• but you do not process well the data 
• and you estimate some empirical relationships 
• In your analysis, 
• you do not compare the found relationships with your hypothesis 
• and if they contradict the hypothesis, you do not offer explanations 
• or you do not provide some insightful, creative, comments 
• You don use follow style rules in your paper 
• You do not present the Outline or the First Paper Draft. 

4. Papers with these characteristics receive a grade of D: The paper is based on your empirical research but it has some of the following limitations: 

• It does not specify a research question 
• its survey of the literature is not specific to the question 
• it is not based on a conceptual framework learned in this course: 
• it does not make explicit the formal economic model 
• and it does not list the hypothesis suggested by the model 
• You find and use a set of data 
• and you adopt a methodology to make sense of the data 
• but you do not process well the data 
• or your paper simply lists, narrates, or describes historical or economic data and includes several factual errors. 
• In your analysis, 
• you do not compare the found relationships with your hypothesis 
• and if they contradict the hypothesis, you do not offer explanations 
• your paper simply lists, narrates, or describes personal beliefs or views without supporting argumentation on data. 
• You write the paper in a poor English 
• and you do not present the Outline or the First Paper Draft. 

5. Papers with these characteristics receive a grade of F: The paper is not based on your empirical research or it has some of the following limitations: 

• It does not specify a research question or completely ignores the question set. 
• its survey of the literature is not specific to the question 
• it is not based on a conceptual framework learned in this course: 
• it does not make explicit the formal economic model 
• and it does not list the hypothesis suggested by the model 
• You do not use a set of data 
• or your paper simply lists, narrates, or describes historical or economic data and includes several factual errors. 
• In your analysis, your paper simply lists, narrates, or describes personal beliefs or views without supporting argumentation on data. 
• you do not compare the found relationships with your hypothesis 
• and if they contradict the hypothesis, you do not offer explanations 
• your paper simply lists, narrates, or describes personal beliefs or views without supporting argumentation on data. 

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The Matrix of Research Success  Where Grade is the dependent (or explained) variable and the Research Steps  are the independent (or explanatory) variables.  Check the quality of your research according to the above criteria