Re: poly: Econ, the final frontier...

From: Perry E. Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Wed Jan 07 1998 - 15:08:23 PST

Robin Hanson writes:
> Curt Adams writes:
> >Well, my bachelor's is in economics, and I would indeed say that social
> >science is short in empiricism. The harder sciences are full of
> >empirical tests so convincing that they shove unpopular theories
> >down opponent's throats, but such things are rare in social science.
>
> 1. More total research effort has gone into the "harder" sciences.
> 2. Social processes may just be more complex and harder to understand.
> 3. People have much stronger preconceptions about social things.

I tend to disagree. I've seen a lot of unfalsifyable stuff forwarded
as sociological theory. I am not, mind you, saying that sociology
needs to be that way or that you are that way, nor am I representing
myself as an expert on sociology.

Perry
Received on Wed Jan 7 23:08:27 1998

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