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Mohammad, a field of this type is more likely to be a subdiscipline of sociology than a
subdiscipline of economics. So far as I know, it has no status in economics departments
and no economists, as such, would be prepared to offer such a course.
 
I agree with Warren about the definition of such a field, except for the part about its
being an aspect of the methodology of economics. My difference with him probably stems
from a difference regarding whether economics ought to be regarded as a unified method of
reasoning about a somewhat broadly defined set of "economic problems" (my view) or whether
it should be regarded as a set of interactions in which people who are regarded as, or who
regard themselves as, economists engage. (I would guess this to be his view.)
 
In my view, a sociology of economics would be about the organization of individuals who
study particular problems and who use the "unified method of reasoning." It would probably
exclude many people who have been labeled "economists" by themselves and others. The
methodology of economics, by my definition, refers to the study of the unified method of
reasoning.
 
Why approach your question by referring to a difference of opinion on what economics is?
Because I doubt that there is much agreement on the matter. If I am correct, the starting
point for a sociology of economics would seem to be to define "economics."
 
Pat Gunning 
 
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