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“In statistics it’s enough for our results to be cool. In psychology they’re supposed to be correct. In economics they’re supposed to be correct and consistent
by mumblemumble 5y ago
“In statistics it’s enough for our results to be cool. In psychology they’re supposed to be correct. In economics they’re supposed to be correct and consistent with your ideology.”
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/book/gelman_quotes.pdf http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/book/gelman_quotes.pdf
Possibly the most fundamental distinction between economics and other fields is that, in economics, it seems to still be permissible to start with your conclusions and then work back from there.
- nickff 5y ago>"Possibly the most fundamental distinction between economics and other fields is that, in economics, it seems to still be permissible to start with your conclusions and then work back from there. " This is only really true in the most contentious subjects studied in economics, and even then, I don't think economics is unique or even unusual in this respect. Unpalatable results go unpublished in many of the social sciences.
- rory 5y ago> start with your conclusions and then work back from there Sadly this doesn't make it distinct from other fields at all, at least within the social sciences. Much of sociology is built on explicit anti-positivism and anti-empiricism.