economist as Scientist

 The Economist as Scientist:

Economists try to address their subject with a scientist's objectivity . They approach the study of the economy in much the same way a physicist approaches the study of matter and a biologist approaches the study of life : They devise theories , collect data , and then analyze these data in an attempt to verify or refute their theories . To beginners , the claim that economics is a science can seem odd . After all , economists do not work with test tubes or telescopes . The essence of science , however , is the scientific method the dispassionate development and testing of theories about how the world works . This method of inquiry is as applicable to studying a nation's economy as it is to studying the earth's gravity or a species ' evolution . As Albert Einstein once put it , " The whole of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking . " Although Einstein's comment is as true for social sciences such as economics as it is for natural sciences such as physics , most people are not accustomed to look ing at society through a scientific lens . 

An economist is both a scientist and a policy advisor. Economists do not conduct experiments, but they still work with data and generate positive statements, using facts that cannot be refuted and normative statements about how the world should be.