Abstract
In this chapter, a set of rules for scientific research, which is called the alpha-beta method, is logically derived from the composite epistemology. This method makes the composite epistemology operational. Alpha propositions constitute the primary set of assumptions of an economic theory, by which the complex real world is transformed into a simple, abstract world; beta propositions are logically derived from alpha and are, by construction, empirically falsifiable. Alpha propositions are unobservable but beta are observable. Thus, the economic theory is falsifiable through beta propositions. Beta propositions also show the causality relations implied by the theory: the effect of exogenous variables upon endogenous variables. The principles of the alpha-beta method will constitute the rules for scientific research in economics in later chapters.
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Reference
Georgescu-Roegen, N. (1971). The entropy law and the economic process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Figueroa, A. (2016). Alpha-Beta: A Scientific Research Method. In: Rules for Scientific Research in Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30542-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30542-4_2
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30542-4
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