The Scientific Credibility of Sociology and Economics: A Relational Approach

• In Event: 067 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Mobilizing Expertise

Abstract

How does the public view the credibility of sociology as a discipline in the contemporary U.S.? We examine this question using a relational perspective with a specific focus on the relative standing of economics. This contrast is revealing because conventional wisdom and recent research indicates that economics has obtained a dominant position in the social sciences. We also test whether respondents’ views about economics and sociology are explained by scientific sophistication or politicization. We find that the majority of respondents view sociology (57.0%) and economics (54.3%) as scientific. Our multivariate analyses indicate that scientific sophistication (including scientific knowledge and college science coursework) plays little role in shaping respondents views about economics or sociology. By contrast, we find considerable evidence for the politicization thesis – specifically, political identity and age pattern views with more conservative and older respondents viewing economics as more scientific.

Authors

• Gordon Gauchat, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Kenneth T. Andrews, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill