Do you consider economics a social science?

Question

I notice that Yahoo Answers classifies economics as a social science.

I'm a graduate student in economics. I concede that economics is indeed tremendously useful in understanding society (in fact, I might even argue that it is THE most useful paradigm from which to understand society). Therefore, it does have a major "social" component.

However, in my experience studying economics, I've found that it has more in common with the "true" science of mathematics, for example, than it does with the "social" sciences of anthropology, psychology, etc.

What do you think?

Answer 1

I would agree completely.

I do not see economics as a social science, even though I recognize the sociological application. If you major in eco, you are awarded a BS. Is business administration a social science?

How about we include such studies in their own category of Economic Sciences?

Answer 2

How many experiments have you conducted while studying economics?

You might want to line up with narrow minded scientists that believe "their" science is true and choose "others" as false sciences, but you would have to come up with something more solid than "I've found" because it reads easily as "I believe".

Observation and hypothesis are parts of economics and social sciences just as they are part of physics and chemistry but bear in mind that observation is not part of math.