But Economics Is Not an Experimental Science

Will Economics Become an Experimental Science?

Experimental Economics: Science or What?

Do we want experimental economics to evolve into a genuine science? This paper uses the literature on inequity aversion as a case study in warning that we are at risk of losing the respect of other scientific disciplines if we continue to accept the wide claims about human behavior that are currently being advanced without examining either the data from which the claims are supposedly derived o...

Is economics an empirical science? If not, can it become one?

Today’s mainstream economics, embodied in Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models, cannot be considered an empirical science in the modern sense of the term: it is not based on empirical data, is not descriptive of the real-world economy, and has little forecasting power. In this paper, I begin with a review of the weaknesses of neoclassical economic theory and argue for a truly sc...

Computer Security is Not a Science ( but it should be )

Security research is sometimes referred to as the “Humanities of Computer Science” because, too frequently, “secure” systems are built using equal measures of folklore and black arts. Despite the humorous intention, there is a kernel of truth in this jest— computer security, at least “security in the large”, is not currently a science. This claim may seem unfair, given the progress made in secu...

But is it science?

Early years science education is not science, but a curricular construction designed to induct young children into a range of ideas and practices related to the natural world. While inquiry-based learning is an important approach to this, it is not of itself unique to science and there are a range of logico-mathematical constructions that come closer to the essence of science. In this paper we ...