Abstract
This study is the first of a series of studies, collectively embodying a multiphase mixed methods design. The overall objective of these studies is to explore and address a variety of issues and features of the discipline of economics, particularly as they relate to and represent past present and future factors of globalization, education, citizenship, and society. This is done by collecting and analyzing data on numerous aspects of the undergraduate economics curriculum, economics as a discipline, and economics as applied in the real world.
The overall purpose of these studies is to inform ongoing debates concerning the future of the discipline of economics and how it is taught, by examining and creating paradigms and methods that may be of aide. Additionally these studies collectively aim to outline, and in small ways develop, potential technological and organizational solutions for detailed longitudinal curriculum tracking. The frameworks employed and developed in these studies may eventually be scaled and adapted for all sorts of curricula. Ideally, the completion of this study’s overall objective yields practical insights and tools that empower faculty and departments, in economics and eventually in general, to better understand and design their own curriculum.
This immediate study fills gaps in and updates data on the curriculum of undergraduate economics majors in U.S. institutions, while also establishing a baseline data set for future studies to build on. A qualitative census methodology is adapted and employed to explore how various institutional and program factors relate to certain types of major program requirements. Descriptive statistics are used for analysis, primarily to allow for comparisons to previous studies. In sum, the purpose of the data collected and analyzed in this census is to give a glimpse into the current state of the undergraduate economics curriculum in the U.S., and to inform the qualitative, quantitative, and transformative studies that are to follow in this multiphase series.