A new scientific challenge in economics : theory building via synthesis

Since the Cartesian era emphasis within theory building has been upon analysis. However, increasing numbers of case studies have revealed drawbacks in theory building via an analysis approach, one of which is a somewhat narrow focus. Another weakness of this approach is that an analysis is a focus on a subset of elements and relationships which describes the phenomena under study. As a result, the theories obtained are largely condi-tional in character. Normally, only through the use of the ceteris paribus clause can the theories be maintained. Third, often a repetition of studies can be observed. However, these repetitive studies often show mutually conflicting outcomes. Only an integrated study seems able to deal with these problems. Yet, another obstacle. can be observed in scientific research: within the social sciences field, and particularly in economics, it is problematic to undertake large-scale or detailed studies based on controlled repetition, and therefore only a small set of studies is available for theorizing purposes. Because there are difficulties inherent in the standard analytical method, we .propose in this paper a synthesis approach, or more precisely, the use of meta-analysis as a tool for more accurate theory building in the field of economics. We present an overview of the current state-of-the-art as well as the features of meta-analysis.