Thread: What is a liberal education?

Originally Posted by Thematic-Device

Its more of a science then psychiatry and psychology imo. Since it can be disproven

How do you design a controlled experiment in economics? It has always seemed like voodoo to me, thaough I'll freely admit that I don't know much about it.

Psychological studies do generally use appropriate experimantal design- like a control group, controlled and experimantal variables, etc., so I'm not sure I can agree with the implication that the hypotheses involved can't be falsified.
(Psychaitry is just the practice of medical psychology using prescription drugs- Psychiatrists are MDs)

Originally Posted by Otter

How do you design a controlled experiment in economics? It has always seemed like voodoo to me, thaough I'll freely admit that I don't know much about it.

Psychological studies do generally use appropriate experimantal design- like a control group, controlled and experimantal variables, etc., so I'm not sure I can agree with the implication that the hypotheses involved can't be falsified.
(Psychaitry is just the practice of medical psychology using prescription drugs- Psychiatrists are MDs)

The biggest problem that I see with psychological experiments is the degree of cheating to get the desired results. Many of psychology's most famous studies were later found to be fraudulent.

I got a 4 in European History,
and a 4 in English Lit.

If the dump I went to school at had let me,
I would have done as well in US Histrory.

Originally Posted by jpsartre12

The biggest problem that I see with psychological experiments is the degree of cheating to get the desired results. Many of psychology's most famous studies were later found to be fraudulent.

People may falsify data, but that does not invalidate the scientific method. They are also generally found out, because a legitimate experiment must be replicable, and there are nearly always multiple labs working on any given question. To be caught cheating will destroy a career.

But again, how do you design an experiment in economics? If it can't (or isn't being) adressed using the scientific method, it isn't a science.

Originally Posted by Otter

People may falsify data, but that does not invalidate the scientific method. They are also generally found out, because a legitimate experiment must be replicable, and there are nearly always multiple labs working on any given question. To be caught cheating will destroy a career.

But again, how do you design an experiment in economics? If it can't (or isn't being) adressed using the scientific method, it isn't a science.

I've always had difficulty with psychological experiments because the number of controlled AND controllable factors is low. It is true that no two people are alike.