For Those Headed to Atlanta Next Week..

Here is everything you need to know about attending and participating in conferences. Hilarious!!! I had never seen this handy instructional guide but I recognize the behaviors so clearly many others have studied it carefully. Luckily, many of the suggestions come naturally, and so I have in the past just naturally put many words on slides and arrived late to sessions. I'm discussing two papers at the ASSA meetings next week---I will be sure to point out all typos in the papers!  I'm sure the audience members and authors will be grateful. :)

Writing, Presenting, Discussing, Refereeing..

You know, those big parts of our jobs that nobody really teaches you. Amanda Agan gathers useful tidbits and puts them all here. I've blogged about some of these before but always useful to have a another look. UConn third year paper writers and job market candidates, this is for you!

Merry Day After Christmas!

How to Get Your 107 Word Abstract Down to 100 Words

Many journals put word limits on abstracts. Often, there are word limits on applications for grants. We should always strive not to include any extra words in our writing---readers are busy people, don't waste their time! But if the your deadline is approaching and you really need to cut a few words quickly, then read this twitter thread.

My favorite one (because I'm guilty of this):

A common writing quirk: Writing a thick, dense sentence followed by "In other words," with a lucid explanation. Get rid of the first sentence and start with the second.

Should You Control for Age or Year of Birth?

From our friends at xkcd.com.

Answer to the question: Both if you have multiple cross-sections of data.

If you have only one cross-section, then you won't be able to to distinguish the two. Be honest about that.

Best Stata Command Ever! ..at Least the Most Motivating!

You're in a slump. You have no idea how to respond to a referee. You're not sure whether you should completely abandon the project. Maybe the entire career plan. What should you do? Open up Stata (if it's not already open). Type this:

ssc install motivate
motivate

After it's installed, you can just type "motivate" into Stata on an as needed basis.

Thank you, Kabira Namit, for bringing this to the world.