Data-Driven Academic Research: A Conversation with Professors Abhishek Borah and Davide Proserpio

In this sixth episode of PhDreams, we are joined by our guests Professor Abhishek Borah from INSEAD and Professor Davide Proserpio from the University of Southern California to talk about data-driven academic research. Both Abhi and Davide agree that high-quality data is key to successful research projects and that empirical results often come first, followed by theoretical explanations. We also discuss why young academics should not be discouraged by seemingly strict data scraping regulations imposed by websites and journals, and we explore the pros and cons of the recent trends towards multi-method papers in marketing research. Finally, we answer a listener question about how to quickly evaluate the quality of data, so young researchers don't waste time on poor-quality sources. Tune in to hear the honest and transparent stories of these two leading data experts. If you'd like to suggest a topic or submit a question for a future episode, send us a text or voice recording at [email protected].