researchWhen I think of Chemistry research, I imagine test tubes and a lot of reactions. When I think of English Literature research, I imagine someone going through a manuscript from the 13th century looking at the margins with notes written by the original author looking for hints on how they connect to history.
In general, I perceive research as something like that - perhaps it stems from my childhood notion that “research” meant “looking for new dinosaur fossils” But anyways, I don’t seem to understand economics research. How does one do this? What is one looking for?
In summary: how does applied/empirical research in economics differ from applied research in other sciences?”
There is actually an incredibly friendly community of people who are asking (and answering) this question over at the TestMagic forums, in the "PhD in Economics" forum. This is basically a place full of people thinking about what they want to do -- PhD in Economics, Masters, any degree in something related. A topic of conversation that has been covered quite a bit, I'm sure, is "what economics research is about." If you're ever thinking about possibly going the PhD route, that is an astonishing social resource.
If your question could be restated, "what do economic researchers do?" then I have two fantastic book recommendations for you: Passion and Craft: Economists at Work Lives of the Laureates
Both talk pretty clearly about what economists do when they do research. Great insights, I think. You can find chapters from the first one on some of the economists websites (each chapter is a different economist telling his/her story, I believe). The second one is a collection of essays by Nobel Laureats, each on the subject "My Evolution as an Economist." It's not a book to be read straight through; I just flipped through it and read random essays from time to time. I thoroughly enjoyed it that way.
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