PO 4700: Contemporary International Relations

Forecasting challenge

Descriptive statistics

  • 20 questions
  • 17 participated
  • Most answered all/most questions

Evaluating your performance

  • Brier score: \[\frac{1}{N}\sum_i (f_i - o_i)^2\]

  • Higher score \(\rightarrow\) large deviation from the truth \(\rightarrow\) worse

  • Caveat: Does not reward risk-taking for rare events

The good news

The good news

The bad news

The bad news

The ugly truth

Before 30 April 2017, will the U.S. provide notice of intent to withdraw from NAFTA?

Answer: No

Individual scores

Preparing for the exam

Studying

  • lecture notes + slides + textbook
  • Required readings
  • Suggested readings in textbook often useful (though not required)

Answering the questions

  • Clarity, clarity, clarity
  • Use section headers if you can
  • Underlining keywords is helpful, esp. if otherwise unclear!
  • Small intro, then one paragraph per idea. First sentence of each paragraph is key
  • Don't forget examples if required

Answering the questions

  • Make it clear you know something beyond the obvious
  • Page filling is useless
  • Not an opinion, but an argument
  • Diagrams can be helpful, but they do not replace the text