Prof. Bryan Caplan

bcaplan@gmu.edu

http://www3.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan

Introduction to Eviews

  1. Getting Started
    1. Installation instructions come with the software; nothing surprising here.
    2. To practice, go to the class homepage and click on the Eviews "hw1" file, named hw1.bin.
    3. Choose the option "Save."
    4. Once you have the file on your hard drive or floppy disk, rename it hw1.wf1.
  2. Opening An Eviews Worksheet
    1. Open the Eviews program (you may want to add the Eviews icon to your toolbar for convenience).
    2. Once Eviews is open, click on File.
    3. Then go down to Open, and click the option Worksheet.
    4. Locate your saved file hw1.wf1 and double-click it.
    5. Your first worksheet is now open, and you are ready to try a few basic commands.
  3. Some Easy Eviews Actions
    1. First, look at the variables inf (Inflation) and un (Unemployment) by double-clicking their icons. You should see a series of 35 variables, running from 1961-1995.
    2. For each variable, go to View.
    3. Under the View heading, click on the option "Line Graph."
    4. Again under the View heading, click on the option "Descriptive Statistics." Select the sub-option "Histogram and Stats."
  4. A Slightly More Difficult Action in Eviews
    1. Simultaneously select both inf and un. You do this by first clicking one; then, press and hold the button Crtl while you click the second variable. (If you did this correctly, both variables will be shaded now).
    2. Go to the View heading and choose the option "Open Selected," with the sub-option "One Window."
    3. Several new choices will now appear before you. Choose the option "Open Group."
    4. Name your new group, and close it.
    5. There will now be a new icon in your worksheet. Re-open it.
    6. Try out the following options under the View heading:
      1. Multiple Graphs... Bar
      2. Correlations
      3. Covariances
      4. Feel free to play around some more with Eviews and see what you can learn.