Analyze This

Danny O’Neil was looking for a challenge.

He wanted to push himself in class— and to take classes that would push him, too. He sought out tough courses that would provide, as he put it, “difficult experiences” that he could call on later in life.

As a junior in economics, O’Neil found what he was looking for in the economics honors program, which gives students a chance to conduct real-world research for local governments, nonprofit organizations and other community groups.

O’Neil and a partner spent months examining the economics of timber revenue, poring over reports and crisscrossing the state for data. They found that counties across Oregon were generally ill prepared for the end of a federal program that had long provided payments as compensation for lost timber revenue.

But the real breakthrough was what O’Neil discovered about himself. He learned that he possesses the tools he needs to be a social scientist—discipline, organization, perseverance, patience and, perhaps most important, the ability to think and work independently.

Now a senior, O’Neil isn’t sure where the path leads after graduation. But his initiation into the rigorous world of research has convinced him he’s ready for the future, whatever it holds.

“I had done a few basic papers for classes, but nothing near this extent,” O’Neil said. “I became comfortable working individually and guiding myself without somebody saying, ‘do this and do this.’ There was a lot of independent work.

“That’s probably the way it’s going to be,” he added, “in whatever I do after this.”

Real Work 

Economics students want to do real work; governments and community agencies have scores of projects to analyze, but lack the people power to get them done. UO economics professors Bruce Blonigen and Bill Harbaugh put the two together, creating a program that does as much for the community as it does for undergraduates.

Now in its tenth year, Economic Analysis of Community Issues is a research class where undergraduates rigorously analyze projects and issues important to local governments, nonprofits and other community groups. This is applied research at the most fundamental level: students get practical experience in analysis and applied statistics while helping local policymakers answer questions ranging from the effects of Medicaid expansion on health insurance coverage to whether the city of Eugene should raise the minimum wage.

Blonigen and Harbaugh created the course to provide ambitious undergrads with a viable path to receiving an honors distinction in economics. Startup funding came from the Tom and Carol Williams Fund for Undergraduate Education and now the department supports the program; organizers recently received a federal grant to fund a graduate teaching fellow to oversee the course.

Since the inception of the program, the number of students who have earned economics honors has tripled, with roughly fifteen now completing the requirement each year.

The course begins winter quarter, when organizations propose projects and professors work with students on the research methods necessary to carry them out. Students devote considerable time during spring term to data collection, analysis and writing, producing an in-depth report and following up with a PowerPoint presentation to the client.

“We work their asses off,” Harbaugh said, smiling. “They are stunned by the end of this. It can take a year to do a regular research project in economics; this group does theirs in three months. They say, ‘this was the most work by far that I ever did at the University of Oregon.’”

Back to top 

Not Your Average Consumer

Explaining things in economic terms, Harbaugh described most college students as “consumers”—they consume knowledge that is provided by others. But a smaller group of undergraduates engages in research, creating new knowledge.

And a still smaller group—those in the economics honors program—creates what Harbaugh calls “practical new knowledge,” providing real answers to real questions posed by others.

Among other topics, students have studied mass transit, competition in the NBA, free trade agreements and parental support to public schools.

Tanya Raterman ’05 analyzed the extent to which the benefits of a potential “living wage” policy for Eugene workers would be offset by reductions in eligibility for state and federal aid such as food stamps, housing aid and medical insurance. In other words, would a living-wage raise make people ineligible for these entitlements?

Her report contributed to a decision by the city of Eugene not to raise the living wage, while convincing Raterman that she had the analytical tools necessary to skip graduate school and enter the working world. Today she’s a senior consultant with London-based Deloitte Consulting, one of the largest professional services networks in the world.

“One of the answers that the undergraduate is looking for is, ‘what can I do with my degree?’” Raterman said. “This program offers a variety of projects to do. You can find something interesting to you and do it from A to Z—that’s very eye opening. By the end of the class, the student has a much more clear understanding of what kind of work they could do and what they would be interested in.”

Employers want people with the kinds of research skills developed in the program. Jeremiah Crider ’05 said his economics honors project on the Oregon Lottery was essential to Walmart’s decision to hire him because it demonstrated his ability to put into practice the economic theories he studied in class. Today, Crider is the company’s director of U.S. strategy and finance. 

You Have to Get Over It

“There is a fundamental thing that you have to get over in the real world—which a lot of university programs don’t prepare you for—and that’s ambiguity,” Crider said. “We deal with that constantly— there’s no clear answer and you’ve got to do your research and due diligence and explain why you think something is the way it is.

“That’s a big part of (the economics course)—just dealing with ambiguity and doing primary research from scratch.”

That primary research can be invaluable for local governments and other organizations. They receive, for free, in-depth analyses that might otherwise cost tens of thousands of dollars through a consultant.

Laura Purkey, development director for Eugene Christian School, said a comprehensive market analysis performed in 2008 by students Doron Fletcher and Sarah Dickey was “pivotal” in helping the school develop a strategic plan.

The school sought a solution to declining enrollment; the student team developed a number of viable recommendations, including relocation to serve an untapped market in Springfield.

The school moved last fall and has seen enrollment grow 40 percent without drawing students from other providers.

“It is incredible how much of that report has now been realized,” Purkey said. “We came up with three reasons (to relocate) and all three fit in with what that UO study was saying. That was an amazing document.” 

No Joy Ride

But producing an “amazing” document can take an amazing amount of work, as senior Megen Ickler discovered. Her project essentially required her to wrap her arms around all of Lane County.

Last spring, Ickler and her research partner Peter Hodel evaluated the effect of the guided-rail bus system, EmX, on residential property values in Eugene-Springfield. They found that as a property’s distance from the high-speed line decreased, its value increased.

Getting there was no joy ride. Working with Lane County’s property database, Ickler and Hodel spent weeks narrowing the field of more than 100,000 county properties under consideration; even then, they needed the help of five computers running simultaneously to crunch all the data in a reasonable amount of time.

The team met repeatedly with economics professor Joe Stone, who advised them to focus their analysis by running their regressions—economic formulas used to derive results—over and over again. Ickler and Hodel eventually presented their findings to the Lane Council of Governments, a service association for local governments, where they were required to defend their conclusions before a roomful of professional planners and engineers.

The experience was tailor-made for Ickler, who is considering careers in urban planning and research.

“It was kind of intimidating,” she said. “There was one person who was particularly critical of our results; he asked us quite a few questions that stumped Peter and me.

“He came up afterward,” she added, “and said, ‘you guys did a good job. I’m really impressed.’” 

-Matt Cooper

Back to top