Global Development: Intermediate Topics in Politics, Policy and Data

Course syllabus

New sources of data (big data, small data and everything in between) raise the exciting
possibility that such data could benefit the world’s poor. This course is designed to provide
students with an intermediate-level review of recent research that deploys new data for
insights on development and hands-on analysis of different kinds of datasets. Students will
investigate 3 key themes in development: corruption and accountability, migration, and
Authoritarian Backsliding.

As we explore these topics, students will develop data analytical skills that are useful across
a wide range of research and real-world applications. Students will learn how to implement
four of the most common research designs in the social sciences: observational studies,
randomized experiments (in particular, survey experiments), regression discontinuity designs,
and difference-in-difference designs. Students will have the opportunity to work with a wide
variety of data types, from survey and government-produced administrative data to text
as data. As such, students will come face-to-face with the opportunities and challenges for
data-intensive approaches to international development.