1.1.1

• ceteris paribus is all things remaining the same
• Some people argue economics is not a science because it studies human behaviour and human behaviour cannot be reduced to scientific law. However, groups of individuals are much more predictable than individuals themselves, and much of economics deals with groups rather than individuals. The laws can not be definite because we cannot know exactly what each individual will do.
• economics is a social science and so, unlike with natural sciences like physics and chemistry, it is difficult to set up experiments to test hypothesis . As the economist has to gather data in the ordinary, everyday world, other variables are always changing so it difficult to decide whether or not evidence supports or disagrees with a hypothesis. Therefore, economists tend to come up with very different conclusions for a particular set of data.