Economic Methodology exam

All questions are worth 10 points. If you have completed 2 presentations, you should only do 8 questions; if you have completed 1 presentation, you should do 9 questions; if you have done 0 presentations, you should do 10 questions. Please write at the top of your exam how many presentations you did. You may choose which questions to answer. Answers should range between a half page and a full page of written text. _____________________________________________________________________

1. Define and distinguish inductive and deductive explanation in science. Then say what the strength and weakness is of each. 2. What are the two kinds of scientific knowledge accepted in logical positivism? Say what kinds of thinking are regarded as non-scientific, and use the logical positivist view of what constitutes scientific knowledge to say why these kinds of thinking are regarded as non-scientific. 3. How did Friedman respond to the Oxford studies regarding firm pricing policies with his irrelevance of assumptions hypothesis? Link your answer to the question of realism and the concept of as if reasoning, and then give an example of the latter. 4. Explain Samuelsons descriptivism and observationalism methodology, and then relate this to his explanation of choice as revealed preference and his understanding of the utility function. 5. Explain how Popper used the problem of induction to justify falsificationism and fallibilism. How does the Duhem-Quine problem raise questions about Poppers view? 6. For Kuhn, explain the concept of paradigm, normal science, and anomalies, and show how they are connected. 7. For Lakatos, define hard core, protective belt, and positive heuristic. Then explain how these concepts are related to the difference between progressive research programs and degenerating research programs. 8. Distinguish the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) from the economics of scientific knowledge (ESK). Then briefly describe the Dagupta and David model as an example of the latter.

9. The economics of science (ES) has been used by governments to support funding of science. Explain the two main welfare arguments used for this purpose. 10. What are McCloskeys views about persuasion and conversation as the methodology of economics? Explain how metaphor is used to persuade, and give an example. 11. Distinguish three forms of institutionalized communication that operate in contemporary economics, and then explain how they influence the ways in which economists persuade one another. 12. What is the main idea behind methodological pluralism? Explain how methodological pluralism supports the existence of different schools of thought in economics and also multiple approaches within schools of thought.