Why do people think that Economics is more scientific than Psychology?!?
I suspect that what happens is people realize that economists use a lot of math, and assume because of that, they are “scientific” (science = math stuff). Psychologists actually perform scientific experiments and disprove hypotheses. Admittedly Psychologists are less numerate than Economists, but math skills != science.
If “science” is held to be adherence to the scientific method, economics is mostly non-scientific. Most economists don’t perform experiments, but rather apply assumed axioms. There are experimental economists, but the field is rather new, and basically a subfield of experimental psychology.
I confess that I may be biased, but....
Why do people think that Economics is more scientific than Psychology?!?
I suspect that what happens is people realize that economists use a lot of math, and assume because of that, they are “scientific” (science = math stuff). Psychologists actually perform scientific experiments and disprove hypotheses. Admittedly Psychologists are less numerate than Economists, but math skills != science.
If “science” is held to be adherence to the scientific method, economics is mostly non-scientific. Most economists don’t perform experiments, but rather apply assumed axioms. There are experimental economists, but the field is rather new, and basically a subfield of experimental psychology.