POLS5153-Writing Assignment 1,2,3 and 4

POLS 5153

Writing
Assignment 1

Please answer the following
question in 6-8 pages of double spaced normal font with one inch margins.
Assignment is due in class on October 3, 2012.

Question
1

I am interested in your comprehension of regression analysis. To
demonstrate that you have mastered the basics of bivariate regression. Locate
some data with two interval level variables (note: you can use the practice
data sets in STATA). Run a regression and produce a scatter plot. Write up the
results of your analysis.

In this write up you need to do a series of things. First brie y
describe the two variables and what they are measuring. Include a small table
that presents the mean, maximum, minimum and standard deviation values for your
two variables. Describe the relationship you would expect to nd, i.e. your
research and null hypothesis. Be sure to state these hypotheses in the
appropriate format. Second, describe your re-sults including writing out the
estimated equation for the line. Be sure to discuss the following issues;
statistical signi cance of parameters and overall model, relationship between
independent and dependent variables, and the amount of variance that is
explained. Third, you need to include a table of the results. This should consist
of a table you created with the appropriate statistics included from the STATA
analysis. DO NOT just print out the STATA analysis and attach it to the paper.
Fourth, include a scatter plot with the estimated line of best t and discuss
the models t to the data in terms of the graphical display. Fifth, although we
have not really delved into this aspect of analysis yet, discuss any estimation
problems that you may have. For instance, does your model violate any of the
assumptions for regression analysis?

If you have questions about
creating a table or the written presentation, look at the journal articles I
have assigned for the course they will provide excellent examples of what the
proper presentation looks like.

POLS 5153

Writing Assignment 2

Please
answer the following question in 6-8 pages of double spaced normal font with
one inch margins. Assignment is due in class on October 23, 2012.

Question 1

Now
that we understand bivariate regression it is time to expand our knowledge
base. I would like you to apply the skills you displayed in the previous
assignment in a multiple regression format. To demonstrate our multiple
regression mastery locate some data with three interval level variables (note:
you can use the practice data sets in STATA). Run a regression with two or more
independent variables. Write up the results of your analysis.

In this write up you need to basically do
everything that you did previously but with a few additions. First brie y describe
the variables used and what they are measuring. Include a small table that
presents the mean, maximum, minimum and standard deviation values for all of
your variables. Describe the relationship you would expect to nd, i.e. your
research and null hypothesis. Be sure to state these hypotheses in the
appropriate format, i.e. null b=0. You need to do this for each independent
variable. Second, describe your results including writing out the estimated
equation for the line. Be sure to discuss the following issues; statistical
signi cance of parameters and overall model. You should also calculate an
F-test and include a discussion of the results (don’t just report the F-test
provided in STATA), relationship between independent and dependent variables,
and the amount of variance that is explained. Third, you need to include a
table of the results. This should consist of a table you created with the
appropriate statistics included from the STATA analysis. DO NOT just print out
the STATA analysis and attach it to the paper. Do not include the con dence
intervals and speci c levels of con dence that STATA gives you. You should look
at this when digesting your analysis but it is generally redundant information.
Simply designate signi cance at the 95% level of con dence with an asterisk.
Fourth, include a scatter plot of the bivariate relationship between each
independent variable and the dependent variable. Fifth, use your equation to
make some substantive predications about the relationship you found. At this
point do not worry about examining the regression assumptions, we will delve
into that in the next assignment.

Lastly, lets try to nd
some politically relevant data so that we are actually applying our regression
skills to what we study.

POLS 5153

Writing
Assignment 3

Please answer the following question in 6-8 pages of double spaced
normal font with inch margins. Assignment is due no later than November 14th,
2012.

Question
1

For this assignment I am interested to see if you can put all of
your regression knowledge together in a nal multiple regression paper. First
select a data set that will allow you to explore all of the assumptions held in
linear regression models. At this point lets select a dataset relevant to
political science and approach this as a political science paper. Within this
analysis please include some aspects of data transformation in your analysis.
Write this up and present it in a standard manner.

In this write up do the usual
things you have to this point, i.e. estimate a model and discuss the model. Be
sure to specify your equation, state your null hypothesis, the outcome of
hypothesis tests, the ability of the model to explain variance in Y and and ultimately
what the results of the analysis tell us, i.e. the substantive signi cance of
the your equation. This should also include a justi cation for the nal model
that includes an F-test. Be sure to present the estimates in an acceptable
table.

Next explore the regression
assumptions and how well your model meets these assumptions. Be sure to examine
the analysis for non-normally distributed error terms and the shape of error
variances as well as for the presence of multi-collinearity and outliers. If
you have data that uctuates over time be sure to test for the presence of
autocorrelation. If you nd any of these problems re-estimate the model with
some form of data transformations-i.e. weighted least squares, logged dependent
variable, Cochrane-Orcutt regression, robust standard errors etc… If in one
of your earlier papers you inadvertently selected time variant data it is
acceptable to re-estimate such a model and test for autocorrelation to
demonstrate your ability to estimate serially correlated error terms. Of course
you would also need to estimate a Cochrane-Orcutt model as well. Write up all
of your analysis and turn it in.
POLS 5153

Writing
Assignment 4

Please answer
the following question in 6-8 pages of double spaced normal font with inch
margins. Assignment is due no later than December 5, 2012.

Question
1

This assignment is very similar as
the previous assignment only now you need to apply your skills to logit
analysis. First, select a data set that will allow you to explore a multiple
logit regression model i.e. a model that includes more than one independent
variable and a dichotomous dependent variable. This might include the factors
that influence why someone votes or votes for a specific candidate, why a
country goes to war or intervenes, or why a court decides the way it did. Write
this up and present it in a standard manner.

In this write
up do the usual things you have to this point, i.e. estimate a model and
discuss the model. Be sure to specify your equation, state your null hypothesis
(same way as in your familiar regression models), the outcome of hypothesis
tests, how well your model fits the data and ultimately what the results of the
analysis tell us, i.e. look at the coe?cients. Discuss some predicted
probabilities for various data points in your data set. For this paper I would
also like you to provide a brief discussion of your results in terms of odds
ratios. This should also include a justification for the final model that
includes a nested likelihood ratio test. Be sure to present this in an
acceptable table. Write it up and submit.