Please read the attachments so carefully and make sure you can get an A

Response Paper Guidelines

Your summary will first state the article’s main points and how they are made. That is, does the article use a model only or is data analysis also done. Regarding the model, what sort of assumptions are made? How are the main points demostrated? Once you’ve given the main points and the results, you should discuss what the paper has included, and what it has left out. Does it apply broadly, or only to a single industry or firm? Does it appear to have a solid grounding in existing literature? Does it tend to support or refute existing literature? Does it seem to give a good fit to the real world, or are the results so theoretical as to be practically useless? At the opposite end of the spectrum, is the paper so lacking in a theoretical foundation that its results are impossible to generalize? Points are awarded for a clear and concise summary of the article’s main points. If a person who has not read the article can understand its main points from the first paragraph of your summary, then you’ve probably done a good job.

Next, you need to consider how the model works (if the paper includes one), and how it could be extended and supported or refuted. To do this, you must first figure out what the paper shows, and how it does that. If there is a model, your summary should include a description of what it does, but should not include every single step of the algebra/calculus used to do so. If there is not a model, your paper should suggest what sort of model would be most e↵ective in illustrating the paper’s points. Your summary should describe the model in plain English, not in “mathese”. To consider how the model could be extended, ask yourself if the assumptions the paper makes are reasonable. If not, how would you change them (and why)? What happens when you change the assumptions? Do the model’s results change dramatically? Would you need an entirely di↵erent model to illustrate the paper’s main point? In this part of your summary, you are demonstrating that you have read and understood either the model used in the paper, or one that you could use to illustrate the paper’s main points. You also demonstrate here your skill at picking a paper apart and considering its main results. Points are awarded for extensions that are creative and well-thought out and supported. Few points are awarded for extensions that are obvious or not well-explained and supported.

Your summary will be one to two (single-spaced) pages, and is likely to involve a fair bit of work. Summaries started the day before they are due will almost certainly receive poor grades. Summaries that say little more than “I liked the article, and don’t think it can be extended or improved” will not earn passing grades. EVERY article can be improved and extended, and your job is to figure out how best to do that. Believe it or not, the best summaries will involve a fair bit of criticism - it is through this sort of critique that work gets stronger and knowledge is advanced.

I will grade your papers for both grammar and content, looking to see that your ideas are well thought out and presented, and that you understand the article you summarize. If your summary does not demonstrate that you have figured out the model presented, you will not get full credit. If your summary does not extend the paper in some way, you will not get full credit.

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