Thanks to a new research grant, one economics undergraduate is waiting for Research Ethics Board approval to start a novel research project for ECO499, Honours Essay in Applied Microeconomics.
Andrew Scutt won the Robert C. Douglas Undergraduate Economics Research Grant. The grant, created in 2024 through a gift from Douglas, an alumnus, assists undergraduate economics researchers with up to $1000 to access data, conference travel expenses journal submission fees, subject honourariums and to cover other expenses related to conducting research and sharing results as part of their course work. Scutt, a fourth-year Innis College student is enrolled in both the Psychology Research Specialist Program and the Economics Specialist with a Focus in Data Analytics Program with a minor in mathematics. The $800 award will cover honourariums for the survey participants who take part in the research project Scutt plans to complete. The project is inter-disciplinary, combining methodologies from econometrics and psychology to examine how psychological and legal phenomena may be connected.
“There’s this literature in psychology on self‑construal. There are two types: independent self‑construal, where you see yourself as a unique individual, and interdependent self‑construal, where you see yourself as connected to others. There’s some overlap with individualism and collectivism, but it doesn’t map perfectly,” Scutt explained. “At the same time, across different areas of the world, there are different types of self-defence legislation. Some are more permissive and some are more restrictive. A more permissive example would be U.S.-style Castle Law, where if someone breaks into your house you can use whatever force is necessary to eliminate the threat. In Canada, the courts look at whether your response was proportionate to the threat posed by the aggressor.”
The two concepts meld at the core of Scutt’s research question.
“I’m looking at whether a person’s self-construal would influence someone’s preferences regarding the type of self-defence legislation they’d want in the community they live in,” he said.
ECO499 is a demanding course. A typical section has just eight to twelve students. Typically, undergraduate researchers use open-access data to conduct their projects, which means they don’t often require outside funding.
“I am using a survey-style experiment,” Scutt explained. “My experience with this method comes from previous research in PSY405 and PSY299. It gives me the chance to directly observe and measure individual preferences how I want to. For this method to work, I need to recruit and pay participants. Without this grant I would not have been able to complete my research.”
Preserving the opportunity to do the research project represents a valuable learning experience for both Scutt and his ECO499 cohort who he’ll share his methods and the results with.
“Andrew’s research shows an excellent combination of economics, psychology, and statistics, utilizing discrete choice models and innovative data collection to tackle complex questions,” explained Professor Yanyou Chen. “He is remarkably novel in initiating ideas and demonstrates a level of sophistication in constructing structural models that is truly on par with graduate-level work.”
For Scutt, the project represents not just a learning opportunity, but the pursuit of a process in which he is deeply invested.
“I love it. I love this. The fact that I can run a survey‑based experiment as an undergraduate is incredible, and it’s only possible because of this award,” he said
“So, thank you very much, Robert Douglas.”
Applications for the next Robert C. Douglas Undergraduate Economics Research Grant are due March 16, 2026.
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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