Wesley MitchellIn existographies, Wesley Mitchell (1874-1948) (GEcE:#) (CR:2) was an American economist, noted for []

Overview
In 1924, Mitchell, in his “Quantitative Analysis in Economic Theory”, stated the following dualism-like idea about social experimentation:

“The experiments must be repeat upon numerous individuals or groups; the varieties of reaction to the stimuli must be recorded and analyzed; the representative character of the samples must be known before generalization can be established. This whole procedure may have more in common with the quantitative study of data drawn from common experience than with the procedure of the man who deals with electric currents passing through a vacuum tube. In collecting and analyzing such experimental data they can obtain, the quantitative workers will find their finest, but most exacting opportunities for developing statistical technique—opportunities even finer than are offered by the recurrent phenomena of business cycles.”

In 1929, Howard W. Odum, in commentary on this, stated that Mitchell believes that, because of the variability and complexity of the data, experiments in social sciences will have to develop a different technique from that of the physical sciences, and that much more depends upon statistical considerations since social experiments must be repeated again and again. [2]

In 1946, Mitchell, together with Arthur Burns, described an economic cycle. [3]

References
1. (a) Mitchell, Wesley C. (1924). “Quantitative Analysis in Economic Theory” (Ѻ), Presidential Address delivered at the 37th Meeting of the American Economic Association, Chicago, Dec 29; in: American Economic Review, XV:8-9, 1925.
(b) Odum, Howard W. and Jocher, Katharine C. (1929). An Introduction to Social Research (pg. 302). H. Holt and Co.
2. Odum, Howard W. and Jocher, Katharine C. (1929). An Introduction to Social Research (pg. 302). H. Holt and Co.
3. Burns, Arthur F and Mitchell, Wesley C. (1946). Measuring Business Cycles. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

External links
Wesley Clair Mitchell – Wikipedia.

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