This site can help you learn enough about econometrics--the application of statistical methods to the analysis of economic data and theories--to have a better understanding of empirical studies that you encounter in your study of economics. Many of the very basic ideas of econometric analysis are introduced here. The level of discussion should be sufficient to help you understand how the authors of empirical studies in economics arrived at their results. Since the reading lists for most Reed economics courses include many empirical studies, this site can be a useful complement to these courses. It is not, however, a suitable substitute for an econometrics course if you want a more complete understanding of econometric methods.
This site is designed like a tree. The tree has a main "trunk:" a series of web pages that introduce you to the most basic concepts and ideas of econometrics. If you want a quick and fairly superficial introduction, you can follow the trunk and ignore the "branches" that describe further details, examples, applications, and extensions of the basic ideas. To follow the trunk of the tree, use the links at the bottom of each page marked Next Page: Whatever Topic Comes Next.
If you want to learn some more details about the basic methods or learn about some more advanced techniques, you can follow some of the special topic pages that are attached to the main pages. Links to these pages will be interspersed in the text and also listed at the bottom of each "trunk" page as Special Topic: Something Interesting. The special topic pages often include instructions on how to perform procedures using Excel and some data sets for you to experiment with.
If you have to interrupt your session and wish to return to the middle of the tutorial, you can use the Site Map to select any individual page in the site.
Getting started
To get started, just click on the link below to move to the next topic.
Next Topic: Theory and Data in Economics
Comments? Questions? Contact the author at parker@reed.edu.