Scientific Principle and Practice in Agricultural Economics: An Historical Review

Ever since their field of learning took its own identity, agricultural economists have seen themselves as dedicated to the scientific principle. In early years that commitment was trusted as a guard against human fallibility, and the more so as the first investigations relied heavily on statistical data and analyses—supposedly bias-free. Thus originated a lasting emphasis on the quantitative. A need for underlying economic principles, recognized at once, was developed in depth beginning in the 1950s. Research taxonomies, outlined in the 1920s, devolved later into an array of research methods. Scientific practice is viewed also as how scientists "behave," and writings about agricultural economists' record are couched in terms of values, objectivity, ethics. Despite just claims to systematic rigor, science responds also to unsystematic elements, among them imagination and hunch. Most engaging in literature are never-ending exchanges about the merits of mathematics and model building.