Saturday 6 June 2015

DD309 : Doing economics: people, markets and policy - Course Review

Well, time for the course review.

This course review is more difficult than the others courses I have reviewed, as without an exam to revise for, all I can actually remember from the course at this point is the Econometrics tutorials and the EMA project.

This course has not been as much of a revelation as DD209 was, and I think it has suffered from quite a bit of overlap with DD209 - especially the section on game theory, therefore there was not nearly as much new stuff.

To be honest I can't actually remember much about the sections or the TMAs that hasn't been written previously on the blog.


If I was going to give an advice on the course it would be to engage with Econometrics as soon as you can, and also read ahead to the Books 2:1 and 2:2 and choose a area of interest as soon as possible to get as good a run up on the EMA as possible.

I chose econometrics because you are in far more control of the project. In comparison Primary Data Projects means getting questionnaires out and getting permissions from employers or groups can be a nightmare and getting returns can also be a problem. Secondary Data Projects means wading through tons of other peoples reports and attempting to churn something of value out of it - just too much time reading stuff of no interest - I would find it difficult to motivate myself.

Also, the Econometrics Forum is well run and really active. Graham who is the tutor running it is really helpful and can steer you in the right direction to find a suitable data source and then offer advice after that.


Other than that, if you have done DD209 and done reasonably well, DD309 will be a walk in the park. I have had by far and away the highest marks ever for my TMAs, I put a great deal of effort into them but there was nothing that earth shattering about any of these essays.

All in all, I suppose DD309 has been a bit of a disappointment in terms of learning loads about economics, but if I get the mark I need then I suppose I'll be satisfied with the experience.

Not a great endorsement, is it :-(

Also, as I am lucky and I am still on the transitional fees, the courses work out at about £25 per week, which is pretty good value considering the website, books and tutors. The new full time fees in England makes it nearly £85 per week (£2,700 for DD309), and I not sure I'd be as happy about that.

One more to go then I guess my academic career is really finished, it would have been fun to do a Masters, but it is unlikely that my finances will allow that.

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