Peer review and prospectuses

Today everyone brought a draft of their prospectus and I brought in the evaluation forms I use on the prospectuses in ECON 448 (Econometrics.)  Each person read through two prospectuses of group members and made comments on the evaluation forms.  I evaluated both Sara and Brent's prospectuses.  Both did a great job of describing their projects and the steps that they need to take in order to have great papers by the end of the semester.  My prospectus addressed my project on the relationship between marathon performance and the recession/unemployment.  It was evaluated by Justin and Brent.  They both gave me some very useful feedback that I can use as I move forward on the project.

Peer evaluation can be very useful.  Your peers can be full of great ideas that you can incorporate into your own work to make it even stronger than if you worked alone.  It is also similar to how research is conducted beyond college.  When I present my papers at conferences there is a discussant who follows.  The discussant gives a presentation that evaluates my work and offers suggestions and criticisms.  Sharing your work with others as you progress through the early stages of the project can save you from making mistakes that others will find and criticise later (and perhaps in not in a manner as constructive and kind as your colleagues!) 

Additionally, sharing your work can be motivating.  I certainly did more work on my project this week than I otherwise would have since I knew my group mates would be doing their part and I would be a weak link in the group if I was not prepared.

I continue to be impressed with how much work everyone is doing and how prepared each person is when we meet. 

Each person left with an assignment unique to their project.  Tyler, Nic, and Jorge are to read appropriate sections in their Econometrics textbook dealing with the new modeling that they will employ.  Later I will review that material with them and show them the appropriate commands in Stata.  Sara is going to work with me on drafting her survey questions and getting her IRB form finished.  Brent is going to polish off his interview questions and start making contact with his potential interviewees.  He has already submitted his IRB form.  Justin is going to develop a list of the variables that he needs in his data set so that we can get together and put the spreadsheet together.  I am going to work more on my draft that I brought in today and continue to develop my data set.  I also need to get an IRB form completed for the survey portion of my paper.