Exercise Set 01

Preliminaries

For this exercise, you will first be reading and isolating most of the important parts of the article entitled, “Is Economics a Good Major for Future Lawyers? Evidence from Earnings Data”.

  1. What do you think was the main question being asked by the author of the article?
  2. Why is it important to find out the answer to this main question?
  3. What is/are the data source(s) used to answer the main question?
  4. What did the author choose to present in order to provide answers to the main question?

Before you gather the data

For this exercise, you will be attempting to obtain the original data. But before you gather the data, answer the following questions first:

  1. List down the variables you think were used in the article.
  2. Are there any details of measurement you want to take note of?

You can create an account at IPUMS USA now or at the end (just like when you are doing online shopping). Provided that you have your list of variables, you can now:

  1. Go to the website of IPUMS. Give yourself some time to get acquainted with IPUMS itself. Take note of the other datasets covered by IPUMS.
  2. Next, visit the site of IPUMS USA. Give yourself some time to get acquainted with IPUMS USA.
  3. Click on the button “Get Data”. You will be taken to a “shopping” interface which will allow you to browse and check out data extracts.
  4. Select samples first. Uncheck the box labeled “Default sample from each year”. Check the boxes for ACS (neither ACS 3yr, ACS 5yr) from years 2009 to 2013. Take some time to get acquainted with the IPUMS samples. Once you are done, click on “SUBMIT SAMPLE SELECTIONS”.
  5. Next, you will be exploring the variables available. Based on the information in the article, along with your judgment, select variables (use the harmonized variables) which you think would allow you to eventually reproduce the findings of the author. Ensure that the variables are indeed present in the 2009 to 2013 ACS. You can search for the variables directly or use alphabetical listings or classifications to find them.

What you will be expected to do

You will be submitting your responses in a survey form.