Reasons why economics qualify as a science?

[Tom]

[Neil]

It doesn't.

Science = collecting all the data, and having it support 1, objective conclusion.(even a lot of science, isn't really science)

Economics are more like playing Poker, there's a lot of creative-math, and gambling in it.

[K_X]

Economics does not fully qualify as a science.

Any economic study is full of assumptions and models based on those assumptions. A discipline can be called science when there is evidence supported by observation or data to support a theory or assumption. So economics is not a science..

[Resistevil]

SOME versions of economics qualify as a social science because those versions are guided by scientific principles.

[pgreen]

If you define science as a set of knowledge economy is obviously
a science.
If you define it narrowly as something that brings certainties, it is not
But then most other fields qualified as sciences and even "hard" sciences
are not either, as their paradigms tend to change with time, and they
thrive on assumptions and limits.

Who knows if dark matter and dark energy really exist and, if they exist
what they are?
Also, if I understood well, is not an "uncertainty principle" running quantic
physics?
What about emergence in complex dynamical systems? Who can
know in advance what the new traits of the system will be?

The difference is that social sciences, and this includes economics, add
a specific type of uncertainties: people preferences, reactions and
anticipations are far from stable. Thus modelization is more tricky, it has
to make room for many scenarios, "hard" statistics and probabilities can
not cover all possibilities.

Economic previsions
http://pgreenfinch.pagesperso-orange.fr/...ision.html
Economic models
http://pgreenfinch.pagesperso-orange.fr/...odels.html

[Victor]

Economics qualifies as a science in the same way that do also psychology, sociology, anthropology and psephology. To be honest, cosmology and astronomy fall into the same category.
They are all based on the scientific method:
1. observe a phenomenon
2. construct a theory to explain it
3. from the theory make a model of what should happen next
4. find data and arguments that support or demolish the model
5. if the model is supported, it becomes a principle to be applied
6. if the model is demolished, change the theory and construct another model that fits the data better.

This approach has been used by scientists since Paracelsus and forms the basis for Newton's "laws," the laws of chemistry, medical practise about disease and treatments, and the study of geology.

This is how proper economics works, also.
NOT political economy and not anything connected to media economics stories.

In common with sociology, psychology etc, economics is a social science. It tries to understand and predict how humans will behave. But we all know that humans are perverse and cannot be predicted with the certainty that goes with mechanical, electrical or chemical systems. That doesn't stop it being a science.

[Philip M]

The answer from Victor is right. His answers are always clear and helpful.

I would add this:
economics is called the "science of wealth."

Not how to get rich but how wealth is created by employment, production, trade and management.

The word "science" just means "knowledge" and that's why economics is a science.