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Economics as a social science

Economics as a social science

A social science is one concerned with society and the relationships between individuals and society. 

Social scientists face challenges that other fields of science do not during experiments. In carrying out an experiment, scientists typically follow the following steps:

1. Propose hypothesis

Human behaviour is very varied and unpredictable, so it is hard for social scientists to come up with a hypothesis that yields true for all human behaviour. 

2. Experiment + collect data

The ability to create a valid experiment is limited as controlling variables is very hard due to the complexity of the real world. Additionally, economists often collect qualitative data, which is hard to interpret. 

3. See if results support/reject hypothesis
4. Repeat (with new hypothesis) 


In order to carry out experiments, economists often use models to simply the real world. These models are a simplified version of reality that can yield testable hypotheses about economic behaviour. 

There are different types of model:

Theoretical (e.g 'Consumptions is dependent on current income')
Empirical (e.g C = 567 + 0.825Y) 
Physical (e.g MONIAC) 

Models almost always begin with assumptions. These help simplify the real world. An example of a common assumption in economics is ceteris paribus - 'other things remaining equal'. This is used when focussing on changes in one variable while holding others constant. 


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