Third , the inherent limitations of the social sciences in general, highlights the fact that 'science' is more than just experimental science, i.e. use of the experimental method. Science, in general, means an organized and systematized body of knowledge. How knowledge is collected, organized and systematized varies between the natural and engineering sciences, the social sciences and humanities, and the arts. Each way of 'knowing', i.e. ways of accumulating knowledge, varies between these three primary forms of knowledge in contemporary society. Induction involves reasoning from the particular to the whole.
Deduction involves reasoning from given premises or assumptions to a conclusion.
Different schools of economic thought have traditionally emphasized one or the other. Thus the Historical School and the Institutionalists relied on inductive reasoning. The Marginalists and Neoclassical School relied on deduction. Keynes, in contrast, synthesized the two poles of economic thought, using both inductive and deductive reasoning in his methodology. In this course, deductive logic will be the primary engine of analysis.