Research Seminar "Data Processing and Research Methodology"

2019/2020

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

4

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Accounting, Analysis and Audit (Faculty of Economics)

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

2 year, 1-3 module

Instructors

Krekhovets, Ekaterina

Leonova, Liudmila

Nikolaeva, Tatiana

Suchkova, Ekaterina O.

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The research seminar aims at: the formation of basic practical skills in working with scientific literature, bibliography, reference books, databases; processing of research results; writing a scientific text, preparing an oral presentation; carrying out career-oriented work among students, allowing them to choose the direction and topic of research as part of the course work in the 3rd year of study and writing final qualifying work in the 4th year of study.

Learning Objectives

• The objectives of the Research Seminar "Data Processing and Research Methodology" are the formation of the basics of analytical and research activities, the formation of professional competencies.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Has the skills of searching and analyzing qualitative and quantitative information, including using the library’s electronic resources in Russian and English, databases, is able to analyze the material of printed and electronic media, experimental data in order to solve problems in the economic sphere
• Owns the skills of competent writing and design of scientific writing (essay, review, report, coursework) and oral texts (presentations) in Russian, the skills of competent discussion, opposition
• Able to apply methods and formulas for calculating various coefficients and indicators of financial and economic activity
• Applies the tools of theoretical and experimental research in economics, has the skills of theoretical analysis and experimental research. He can independently set the goals and objectives of the research, formulate hypotheses and conclusions
• Able to find and evaluate the quality and suitability of statistical data from various socio-economic indicators

Course Contents

• Research Methodology
  Topic 1: Introduction to research methodology. Research activities in NRU HSE. Research activities in the bachelor program of NRU HSE. Different models of research methodology: European, American and Russian approaches. Opportunities of student’s research works, requirements for student’s scientific works. Overview of local and international conferences, forums and scientific grands for students. Program of student mobility in NRU HSE. Main stages of research. Structure of scientific study. Planning of research. Topic 2: Program of research. Research subject, aims and objectives. General characteristics of research program. Correlation between the main elements of research program. Choice of subject and consideration of research area. Initial analysis of research subject and explanation of study subject and field. Quality characteristics of subject: clarity, social and economics fields of study, originality, opportunity for research. Description of the scientific field in which research will be developed. Relevance of the subject. Key words. Formulation of research goal. The role of the research goal in the research process. Quality characteristics of research goal. Different research goal and research projects. Tasks of research. Topic 3: Research problem: description of science and practical relevance of research. Science originality and practical significance. The object and the subject of research. Analysis of scientific literature. Basics of working with electronic resources of NRU HSE and others. Hypothesis formulation. The concept of research problem. Justification of research relevance by using critical literature analysis, statistic data, expert assessments, publications, etc. Justification of research goal. Characterization of research problem as a contradiction between different sites of scientific knowledge: between knowledge and facts; different elements of the theory; tasks and methods; methods and results. Scientific originality and practical implementation. Requirements for reliability. Searching of relevant literature and statistical data. Ways to read scientific literature. Outline. Main method to work with scientific literature: a full bibliographic description, extracting, general impression of author’s view. Some ideas how to work with literature during research process: parallel maintenances of technical and conceptual documents, discreteness of information storage, clear fixation of instance and context. Bibliographic software: Mendeley, Zotero. Literature review as a part of research. The logical connection between theoretical and empirical studies in the literature review. Scientific hypothesis. Main requirements to the hypothesis. Hypothesis in the methodological program of research. Data source for hypothesis formulation. The problem of the validity and verification of the hypothesis. Topic 4: Methodology and methods in scientific research in economics. Structure and design of scientific text. Methodology of scientific research. Universal research methods: metaphysical methods, the dialectical methods. General scientific methods: analysis and synthesis, generalization, abstraction, induction and deduction, analogy, modeling, historical, logical, classification methods. Particular research methods: mathematical modelling in economic studies. Statistic as the basis of empirical research. Prediction. Academic writing. Features of academic stylistics. Writing introduction and conclusion of the research text. The argument. Visualization of the contact with the reader. Bibliography as one of the means of self-identification and incorporation into the scientific community. The structure of the bibliographic list. Topic 5: Coursework and thesis as an example of research project. The formulation of research problem. Main aspects and stages of coursework. Structure of coursework. Deadlines. Technical and conceptual requirements of coursework.
• Money, credit, banks as an area of research
  Topic 1: Financial system: functions, structure, financial market instruments, regulation. Functions, structure of the financial system. Financial market instruments: money market and capital market. The internationalization of financial markets. . Regulation of the financial system. Causes of financial crises, their consequences, key tasks aimed at overcoming them Topic 2: The concept of money and the monetary system. Non-cash turnover. The need and prerequisites for the emergence and use of money. The essence and function of money. Theories of money. The evolution of forms and types of money as a trend to reduce transaction costs: commodity, full, defective, surrogate, electronic money. Cash and non-cash money. The monetary system is its main types. The concept of cash flow. Non-cash turnover as an integral part of the total cash flow. Structure of cashless cash flow. Cashless payments. The principles of the organization of cashless payments. Forms of non-cash payments. Topic 3: Creating money supply. Demand for money. Monetary base and money supply. Monetary aggregates. Principles of construction. National features of the construction of monetary aggregates. Single and multiple expansion of the money supply: models of endogenous and exogenous money supply. Deposit and cash multipliers. Bank multiplier. The demand for money and its measurement. Quantitative theory of money. Theory of preference liquidity. Portfolio theory of the demand for money. Equilibrium in the money market: internal and external balancing mechanisms. Topic 4: Money and inflation, methods of monetary stabilization. Inflation, its types and methods of monetary stabilization. Factors determining inflation. Types and forms of modern inflation. Types of inflation. The consequences of inflation. Forms and methods of stabilizing monetary circulation. Anti-inflationary policy of the state. Topic 5: Credit and banking systems. The activities of commercial banks. Credit and its role in a market economy. The structure of the credit system. Banking sector credit system. Parabank sector of the credit system. The banking system of Russia: the formation and current status. The central bank as the main link in the country's banking system. Commercial bank: essence, functions, types. The role of banks in a market economy. Operations and services of commercial banks. Types of banking operations: passive operations, active operations, intermediary and trust operations. Traditional and new services of commercial banks. Bank balance. Topic 6: Central banks and monetary policy. The interaction of monetary and real sectors of the economy. Forms of organization and functions of central banks. Goals and objectives of the functioning of central banks. Independence of central banks: degree and criteria of independence. The main operations of central banks. US Federal Reserve. European Central Bank. Monetary policy of the central bank and its instruments. Types of monetary policy. The choice of monetary policy objectives: targeting inflation and interest rates. The impact of the financial crisis on the monetary policy of central banks. The impact of monetary policy on the real sector: the transmission channels of monetary policy.
• Statistical research methods
  Topic 1: General questions of statistical research. Statistical research and its stages. Requirements for statistical data. Organization of statistics in Russia. Rosstat and territorial statistics bodies. International statistical organizations. Topic 2: Absolute and relative statistical values. Average values The essence and significance of statistical indicators. Classification of statistical indicators. Absolute and relative indicators. Different types of averages. Power average. The ratio between the forms of averages. Topic 3: Variational series and indicators of variation. Variation series and its elements. Discrete and interval variation series Graphic representation of variational series. Structural averages: fashion and median. Quantiles. Indicators of variation and their interpretation. Topic 4: Rows of dynamics. The concept and types of series of dynamics. Performance indicators. Average dynamics. Interpretation of dynamics indicators. Identify trends in the ranks of the dynamics. Measurement of variability in the series of dynamics. The simplest methods for predicting time series.

Assessment Elements

• Intermediate validation of 1 module
• Intermediate validation of 3 module
  Экзамен проводится на платформах Zoom (https://zoom.us), MS Teams (https://teams.microsoft.com). Ссылка будет отправлена преподавателем за три дня до экзамена.
• Classroom work
• Task on "Money, credit, banks"

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (1 module)
  0.4 * Classroom work + 0.6 * Intermediate validation of 1 module
• Interim assessment (3 module)
  0.2 * Interim assessment (1 module) + 0.4 * Intermediate validation of 3 module + 0.4 * Task on "Money, credit, banks"

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Darren Grant. Methods of Economic Research [Электронный ресурс] - Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018. Online ISBN 978-3-030-01734-7. Режим доступа: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-01734-7.pdf

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Leekley, Robert M. Applied statistics for Business and Economics / R.M.Leekley - CRC Press LLC, 2010. – 498 p. – ISBN 9781439882818 – URL: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1648178