Full course description
Note about payment: Payment for this course is via the UCL Online Shop (link below). However if you have a promotional code please use the "Enroll now" button at the top.
About this course:
This course highlights the importance of empirical evidence in how economists think about the world, analyse events, and recommend policy changes. Over the last few decades, the economics profession has moved steadily towards the use (and some might say abuse) of data as discussed in Unit 1.1. In this course, we look at how economists identify the "facts" including common pitfalls involved in the process, and introduce you to key reliable data sources (including government and university databases) for common metrics related to any economy.
Topics covered:
- How economists use data to establish the facts and analyse events and policies - this includes a review of the kinds of data economists and the most approprite uses of each kind of data, issues to watch out for when interpreting and visualising data, and a brief look at big data and how economists are starting to use it.
- Reliable and user-friendly sources of economic and social data - this includes headline data such as GDP, population, unemployment, inflation and public finances, as well as specific areas of interest such as the environment and development indicators.
Commitment: This course is suitable if you have no prior understanding of economics. We recommend/expect learners to complete it within 4 weeks. Each course comprises 2 units divided into 5 sections, making up 7-8 hours of learning. The course ends with a light-touch assessment of the learning for you to measure your learning.
Recommend completion time: 4 weeks
Format: Online
Fee: £144 (including VAT)
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