good news on the paper street

i spoke with my adviser yesterday, knowing that it would be make or break time. it almost turned out badly. i thought we were hurtling towards the dreaded conclusion of me facing no choice but to change topic for my paper.

This is a recreated conversation, ok.

"are you still working on the environment?"

me thinking: "what else would i be working on? i'm not going to change my topic! not this late in the game."

i showed him my new model. Quite radically changed my left-hand side variable. He bought it.

One problem: Missing variable on the right side. "If you don't put even a proxy in, it'll cause the omitted variable problem. (How could I miss this?!?)"

"Sir, that variable you're asking me to put in is the problem I had with in the first place. If I had it, then I wouldn't even bother changing my left-hand side."

"You don't need a perfect variable, just a proxy."

"My old LHS variable can be a proxy then?"

"You'll need yet another one though, so as to determine that this proxy is a good one."

curiouser and curiouser!

"Sir, that variable comes in three versions, so I can use those?"

"Ok then."

"Do I model these and come back with you with the output (i.e. regressions)"?

"No, write me already the analysis or I might not appreciate the regressions...Isulat mo na"

It's the go signal to write the paper. God, a horizon in sight.

E says that I can be done with this in as little as a week. And I believe him. HA.