Hello and welcome to this article where we go out on the streets of Rotterdam on a quest to bother strangers with questions. We asked people questions ranging from what they think of Econometricians, to more critical questions like what they think of pineapple on pizza. Besides that, we got a very diverse representation of what lockdown has changed for the average person.
Episode I: The Econometrician Awakens
While we may think that studying Econometrics is the coolest and one of the most well- known studies in the Netherlands and we have to repeat that in every other sentence, we were faced with very disappointing and brutally honest answers to the question “Do you know any Econometricians?”. The answer was pretty ego-shattering as the majority did not even know the study.
For the people who are familiar with the study, usually there are some serious prejudices about Econometricians and their study.
So, without any doubt, we first asked our volunteers “Do you have any idea on what Econometricians are like?”. The results were quite nice.
Well, maybe not…
Episode II: Attack of the Haters
Cue more ego-dampening answers…
We quickly realised that Econometrics is a niche normal uncool people don't care about and our little adventure on the streets would end very soon if we only stuck to Econometrics-related questions. So we decided to ask people what for them, if anything, the best part about lockdown was. Some of them had to think really hard before they could come up with the following answers...
However, they had a lot less trouble telling us the things they hated….
Upon being asked what their favourite activity was during lockdown we got some interestingly unique responses.
Episode III: A New Hope
Of course, we also had to bring up some more serious topics: “Can you chug a beer?”.
Episode IV: Revenge of the Pineapple
And settle the grave question of whether pineapple belongs on pizza.
Episode V: The Last Econometrician
No matter how hard it is for us to admit, Econometricians are not more popular than Trump and are mostly perceived as nerds. This year was hard for econometricians and the rest of the world. On behalf of all Estimator authors, we would like to wish all the students best of luck in their final exams and resits. And life-saving advice: DO NOT EAT PINEAPPLE PIZZA!