FAQs

Why do we need to pitch our project in class?

We want to ensure that the whole group knows which topics each of us works on. Often, many projects share the same challenges, and this allows to reach out to other groups working on related issues directly.

Do we need to report on the progress of our project?

Yes. At the end of a lecture, I will frequently select a student at random to report on the current state of their project.

Why are the projects public?

Transparency and reproducibility are core values in research. Also, we want to learn from each other.

Why do we work in groups?

The need for collaboration are ubiquitous in business and research. This projects allows you to practice collaborative work and the supporting tools.

Where can I look for publications that provide the data behind their research?

Some journals provide the data for their published articles as data supplements directly on their website. In addition, the Replication Wiki and the Harvard Dataverse compile a lot of such information.

What are other useful resources for research data?

There is a tremendous amount of data available online. For example, MDRC provides a host of data files for public use here from the evaluation of public policy initiatives. The UC Irvine machine learning repository also maintains several hundred datasets. More generally, Google Dataset Search allows you to look for all kinds of online data.

A primer on finding data is available here on the personal website of Prof. Sebastian Tello-Trillo. In general, textbooks often provide an impressive amount of data from research articles.

Do we get to present our projects at the end of the course?

Yes, at the end of the lecture period we will host a “Demo Day”, where selected projects will be presented to the whole class.