Research Spotlight

So, How much is Minimum Wage Labor actually Worth? Link

My Background: The University of Massachusetts, Amherst

• Bachelor of Arts in Economics, minor in Statistics
  • As an undergraduate, my course load of economic theory, statistical methods and econometric applications provided me with a substantial understanding of the analytical tools needed to answer the big questions in the social sciences.
• Peer Tutor, The Writing Center
  • I also spent 3 of my 4 undergrad years studying to be and working as a Peer Tutor at the Writing Center on campus, where I studied the social construct of writing for a year before tutoring full time, and continued to explore pedagogy which dissects linguistics throughout my time there.
• Master of Science in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science
  • As a student in the Data Analytics and Computational Social Science program, my research interests are driven by socioeconomic disparities, politics and policy process and bounded by the empirical application of such. I have designed my degree to expand on my technical and substantive skill sets, covering data science fundamentals, text-as-data analysis, public policy processes, regional planning, GIS systems, survey analysis, time series analysis, data-driven storytelling and research design and methods.
• Research Analyst, Economic and Public Policy Research
  • I have paired my fourth and fifth years studying at Umass Amherst with my work in the Economic and Public Policy Research department at the Umass Donahue Institute. Here, I’ve gained a multi-disciplinary tool belt of empirical approaches to policy analysis featuring both qualitative and quantitative data.

Research Journal: Spring 2021

Goal To showcase the different skills I am developing in my coursework this semester.

This semester, I chose to investigate minimum wage policy from the lense of each of my classes:

• Public Policy: Framework for Analysis
  • Framework: Institutional Analysis
    • I plan to construct a research proposal to analyze how institutions are created and designed and how these institutions affect human choices and societal outcomes
      
• Text-as-Data: Tool for Analysis
  • Institutional Grammar
    • I plan to use Institutional Grammar to analyze the rules, norms, strategies and constraints on human behavior
      
• Regional Planning: Visualization & Spatial Analysis
  • Geographic Delineations & Spatial Associations
    • I plan to use Spatial Associations to analyze the degree to which multiple institutions are arranged over the state of Massachusetts and across the United States.
      
• Data-Driven Storytelling: Report Writing & Human Sources
  • Presentation-ready problem definition
    • I plan to answer the question: how do we address (this particular societal outcome/human behavior), local state or federal approach?