[graemep]

> But in some cases, flashy quant skills are used to distract from more fundamental issues.

I agree, I sometimes thing economists like quantitive approaches because it makes them feel like "real scientists" and numbers have an air of credibility.

It look a lot of arguing to let my MSc dissertation supervisor let me do one on financial theory (which I am good at) rather than econometrics (which i struggled with).

[BehindBlueEyes]

Worst offenders of liking quant approches to feel like real scientists may be when psychologists use formulas to describe their theory like they're a mathematician. All it does is making their theories obtuse, while no math actually happens...

I think the problem is more with the institutions and incentives e.g. to publish a lot for funding, than it is with social sciences as a thing. Qual stuff is much lower effort... And to be clear I think Qual has a place there, it just shouldn't be the only thing and it certainly shouldn't be masquerading as quant... But going all quant in social sciences could quickly become harmful if it isn't tempered with some qual/experiential studies. There needs to be a better balance imho.