Economics as a Social Science

(With Diagram)
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Let us make an in-depth study of economics as a social

science.
The term Social Science refers any subject that deals with human
behaviour. Political Science, Psychology, Ethics, etc. come within
the definition of Social Science.

Economics is a social science because it deals with one aspect of

human behaviour, viz., how men deal with problems of scarcity.
Samuelson says that Economics is “the queen of the social
sciences”.
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Economics deals with human beings living in a society, i.e., in a

large group of persons with touching interests and problems. It does
not deal with problems of solitary individuals like Robinson Crusoe.
In a community of people everybody is influenced by the actions of
the others.

Economics deals with the activities of people, living in an organised

community or society, in so far as such activities are related to the
earning and use of wealth or with the problems of scarcity, choice
and exchange. Economics is, therefore, considered to be a branch of
sociology which is a study of the history and nature of society. As a
consequence of this we find that economics is closely related to the
other social sciences like Ethics, Political Science, and History etc.

Is Economics a Science?
The answer to this question is ‘yes and no’. Economics can never be
an exact science, and is a different kind of discipline to, say, physics
or chemistry. The essence of science is prediction. Physical ‘laws’
tell us what we believe must happen. If you drop a pencil out of an
upstairs window, the known laws of physics predict that it must falls
to the ground.

If ever a pencil flew vertically upwards, then physicists would have

to look again at those laws in order to accommodate this new
possibility. One thing that would not enter the discussion would be
the possibility that the pencil ‘decided’ to fly upwards, and here is
where the ‘laws’ of economics are very different from the ‘laws’ of
physics. Economics is a social science, which means that it studies
aspects of human behaviour.

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The usefulness and importance of the Science of Economics in

social and individual life is beyond measure. The impact of
Economics in social life is further stressed by awarding the Nobel
Prize on this subject from 1969. The 1998 prize was given to Prof.
Amartya Sen and the 1999 prize to R. Mundell.