Introduction

This page collects workshop materials, data sources and supplementary materials for the data-driven assignments in the Spring 2022 edition of International Macroeconomics at UCR. You can also access the related files directly on Github.

Working with R and RStudio

Installing R and RStudio

R is the programming language that you use when working with data. RStudio is a development environment that makes working with R much more convenient. Both are free to download and install.

To download R, go to cloud.r-project.org and follow the instructions on the page. To download RStudio, go to rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download, scroll down and download the file recommended for your operating system.

When installing, you can always stick to the default settings, unless you have different preferences.

In case you get stuck at any point, or would like more guidance in the installation process, feel free to check out any of the following links:

Assignments

Timeline

  • The first Data Center workshop takes place in week 2. It covers the basics of how to create figures in R. You should make sure to have R and RStudio installed before this workshop, and read sections 2, 3.1-3.4, and 4-6 of A (very) short introduction to R and sections 1-4 of How to make any plot in ggplot2?.
  • The IS-LM poster assignment is due in week 4 of the semester.
  • The second Data Center workshop takes place in week 7. It builds on your existing R skills, with a focus on finding and cleaning data.
  • The final empirical paper is due at the end of week 15.
  • The Data Center student fellows hold office hours every Wednesday between 15:00-19:00 (15:00-17:00 with Tina, 17:00-19:00 with Bianka) in the Data Center’s office (Anne 1.30 - first floor) to answer questions and help with the poster and paper assignments. Feel free to email Tina () to schedule an individual consultation outside of office hours or to attend office hours. In case you would like to make use of the in-person office hours, please email the Data Center at least two hours in advance.

IS-LM poster

Guidelines

The assignment guidelines and the grading rubric are on Moodle.

Workshop handout

The materials covered in the first Data Center workshop, including both code and explanations, can be found here.

Empirical paper on growth

Guidelines

The assignment guidelines and the grading rubric are on Moodle.

You can find an example paper here.

Workshop handout

The materials covered in the second Data Center workshop, including both code and explanations, can be found here.

Supporting materials

Inspiration for your research question

Useful data sources