Teaches methods of data analysis to students whose primary interest is not in econometrics, statistics or mathematics. This book shows students how to apply econometric techniques in the context of real world empirical problems.

* Gary Koop has a very high international profile in the field of econometrics and is well known for his books and numerous journal publications.
* The second edition provides stronger coverage of the relevant introductory mathematics, including: the equation of a straight line, the summation operator, and logarithms. This will make the book more accessible for those students who have limited mathematical skills.
* Greater discussion is also provided of data transformations such as growth rate and index numbers. Index numbers are becoming increasingly important and are frequently used in economics courses.
* More material will also be provided on data sources, especially internet data sources which are becoming extremely important as a means of gathering data. Some students have difficulty with the collection of data and the inclusion of this material will help those students.

Preface to the first edition.
Preface to the second edition.
Chapter 1: Introduction.
Chapter 2: Basic data handling.
Chapter 3: Correlation.
Chapter 4: An introduction to simple regression.
Chapter 5: Statistical aspects of regression.
Chapter 6: Multiple regression.
Chapter 7: Regression with dummy variables.
Chapter 8: Regression with time lags: distributed lag models.
Chapter 9: Univariate time series analysis.
Chapter 10: Regression with time series variables.
Chapter 11: Applications of time series methods in macroeconomics and finance.
Chapter 12: Limitations and extensions.
Appendix A: Writing an empirical project.
Appendix B: Data directory.
Index.