This is a one-credit hour course on analytic reasoning, designed to prepare entering LBJ students for the skills needed to succeed in Analytical Methods (in MGPS), Introduction to Empirical Methods (in MPAff), as well as in Applied Microeconomics for Policy Analysis (both programs).
This course covers three ways of using quantitative logic: as (1) language for thinking and communication, (2) device for developing analytic models, and (3) the use of computation to get the right answer. In policy analysis, the first two purposes are more important than the third, which is the more conventional understanding of “quantitative skills.”
With that understanding, our objective in this course is to foster the habits for analytic reading and thinking, the ability to convert verbal information into quantitative form, and conversion of quantitative information into visual form. As part of that process, students will also learn the computational mechanics in algebraic and statistical topics.
Upon successful completion of this course, class members should be ready to take AM/IEM as well as microeconomics in the spring.