Gov2001 February 2009

gov2001@lists.gking.harvard.edu

31 participants
46 discussions

[gov2001-l] Zelig Installation?

by rolai＠hbs.edu

Hello, I suppose this is a question for our section leaders.. but maybe others would find it useful? Today, i attempted to install Zelig (which I don't think is necessary for the PS1, but will be used in the future) I found a "Zelig for R Cheat Sheet" through the course platform: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic507101.files/Using_R_and_Zelig/z… It states the following: * Installing Zelig Within R, type: source("http://gking.harvard.edu/zelig/install.R") * Loading Zelig Within R, type: library(Zelig) The source fx seems to be successful in downloading Zelig-3.3-1, but I receive several warning msgs. I am able to load Zelig, but I wonder if it loaded correctly. Any insights would be valuable! Cheers, Ron Lai ----------------------------------------------------- > source("http://gking.harvard.edu/zelig/install.R") trying URL 'http://gking.harvard.edu/bin/windows/contrib/2.7/Zelig_3.3-1.zip' Content type 'application/zip' length 14779168 bytes (14.1 Mb) opened URL downloaded 14.1 Mb The downloaded packages are in C:\Documents and Settings\hbsuser\Local Settings\Temp\RtmpOBBkpb\downloaded_packages updating HTML package descriptions Warning: unable to access index for repository http://cran.cnr.berkeley.edu/bin/windows/contrib/2.7 Warning messages: 1: package ?zoo? is not available 2: package ?sandwich? is not available 3: package ?MCMCpack? is not available 4: package ?coda? is not available > library(Zelig) Loading required package: MASS Loading required package: boot ## ## Zelig (Version 3.3-1, built: 2008-06-13) ## Please refer to http://gking.harvard.edu/zelig for full documentation ## or help.zelig() for help with commands and models supported by Zelig. ##

15 years, 2 months

[gov2001-l] Sampling rows

by jpferg＠mit.edu

Hi Everyone, I decided to get an early start on the problem set. I have a question about the sample() command, if anyone has gone that far (this relates to 2.4). In question 2.4, we are told to "Randomly draw 100 datasets with 50 observations each from the data loaded in part 2.2 with replacement...using sample()". I can't figure out how to get sample() to draw *rows* rather than single *values*. That is, if I write samplespace <- matrix(c(y,x1,x2,x3),1000,4) thedraw <- sample(samplespace, 50, replace=TRUE) then I get fifty scalars rather than fifty rows from the matrix samplespace. Can anyone see what I'm getting wrong here? The help on sample() isn't actually much help; it too seems to assume that you'll be drawing numbers. I normally wouldn't post such a "basic" question, but I figure that I can't be the only person who's puzzling out R syntax this week! Best, John-Paul Ferguson PhD Candidate, Economic Sociology MIT Sloan School of Management 50 Memorial Drive, E52-533 Cambridge, MA 02142 617.253.3940 (w) 617.549.8482 (c) http://web.mit.edu/jpferg/www

15 years, 2 months

[gov2001-l] replication project and book chapters

by woolfalk＠fas.harvard.edu

Hi folks, A student in section yesterday asked whether or not book chapters were allowed to be used for the final paper/replication project required of all students in Gov 1002/2001. The short answer is yes. The longer answer is yes, it is possible, with a few caveats. The basic idea of the replication assignment is to choose a published work, replicate its results and improve upon the methods used in it in a *meaningful *way. This does not require you to replicate every analysis in the work chosen, as replicating only one or a few of the results and improving upon the methods used to obtain these results may be sufficient to make your contribution. In this sense, the basic approach to the replication project is no different whether you choose a book (and one chapter, for example) or an article (and one table, for example). However, even if you are improving upon or extending only one or a few parts of the analysis, it is important to realize that you are still making a case about the *whole *work you have chosen to replicate (i.e. the whole book or the whole article). So, you need to be sure to read everything relevant to the work (e.g. the whole book) and you may find it harder to make the case that your analysis is better (i.e. makes a substantive difference and uses more appropriate/defensible methods). I hope this helps. Miya -- Miya Woolfalk Ph.D. Student Harvard University Government and Social Policy

15 years, 2 months

[gov2001-l] PS1 and section notes posted

by plam＠fas.harvard.edu

Hi all, Problem Set 1 has been posted under "Problem Sets 2009". Section notes from today have been posted under "Sections 2009". -- Patrick Lam Department of Government and Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~plam

15 years, 2 months

[gov2001-l] Welcome to Gov 1002/2001/E-2001

by plam＠fas.harvard.edu

Hi all, Welcome to Gov 1002/2001/E-2001! We look forward to a great semester. Just a couple of quick announcements: 1. From this point forward, we will be using this email list extensively for class announcements. We also encourage everybody to use this email list for questions about class concepts, about the problem sets, about finding paper partners, or about anything class related. We also encourage you to help one another out by responding to emails or answering questions. You will learn better from each other than you will from us. 2. We will have our first class sections tomorrow. There will be two identical sections at 7-8pm and 8-9pm in CGIS K-354. Feel free to attend either one, although we may start assigning sections if the distribution of students is too uneven between the two sections. The 8-9pm section will be videotaped for distance learning students. 3. The first homework assignment will be posted on the course website. It will be due next Thursday before 7pm. Unless otherwise stated, the homework assignments will be distributed on Thursdays and due the following Thursday. 4. In general, the class will be run from the fas course website ( http://isites.harvard.edu/k48701), even for the distance learning students. 5. My office hours will be on Wednesdays 2-4. Miya's office hours will be (tentatively) on Thursdays 2-4. They will both be at the basement computer lab in the CGIS Knafel building. 6. For all non-extension school students (1002 and 2001), you should start thinking about picking partners for the replication project and also start looking for papers that you might want to replicate. Feel free to use the email list. By March 9, you will need to have a partner and a proposed paper replication. -- Patrick Lam Department of Government and Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~plam<http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Eplam>

15 years, 2 months

[gov2001-l] Looking for a partner/co-author

by ztownsend＠gmail.com

Hey Gov2001: I am the random Brown student in the class. I'm an undergraduate in my last year of a five year AB/ScB program. My AB concentrations are public policy and education studies and my ScB concentration is in applied math--economics. I also have a background in programming. Like Gary mentioned in class, I like political science because of the diversity of problems I can study, and would be open to a paper on anything, but I have a preference for American government topics. The idea from "Publication, Publication" seems like a good idea to me--I have good mathematical and programming skills, but think that I could work well with a partner has more "wisdom" and political science intuition. I do live in Providence, so face to face meetings would be minimal (after class, weekends). That's a downside, but I guess when in academia our authors won't always be right at hand, so it could be seen as another skill-set to develop...I assume we can use skype/aim/gchat and work it out. Cheers, Z

15 years, 2 months

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

Gov2001 February 2009