ABSTRACT
This chapter gives some miscellaneous comments from the outside viewpoint of a statistician on the challenges associated with quantitative methods in econometrics. There are several matters to be considered and the relative importance of these must depend on the particular context. Emphasis can be placed on
the provision of better data and of data more specific to the research questions of concern, including detailed discussion of measurement issues and data definition and especially data quality;
more intensive analysis by already developed methods of currently available data;
more critical interpretation of analyses made by currently available methods;
the development and deployment of more elaborate methods of analysis;
the deeper incorporation into analysis of specific subject-matter concepts and theory.
