Answer to Question #171308 in Economics for OSEI ISAAC

Question

to what extent is economic investigation scientific

Answer 1

The scientific method is used in economics to study data, observe patterns, and predict results.

Because economics is not an experimental science, economists face difficult problems of inference. The same data generally are subject to multiple interpretations. It is not that we learn nothing from data, but that we have at best the ability to use data to narrow the range of substantive disagreement.