The purpose of this research is to comprehensively examine and critically assess Friedrich von Hayek's contribution to methodology in economics. Hayek is a Nobel Prize winner and a leader of the Austrian Economics movement. He has written extensively about social science methodology, but no comprehensive analysis or assessment of his contribution exists. Of particular interest are the origins of Hayek's views, how he justified them, and the internal consistency of his methodological approach. The relationship between Hayek's ideas on methodology and those of a number of other twentieth century economists and philosophers will also be examined. The positions of Ludwig von Mises, Karl Popper, and Milton Friedman will receive extended attention. The primary method of research will be a through review of the written work of Hayek and of related authors. Nearly five hundred pages of transcripts from interviews of Hayek held during the late 1970's will also be analyzed. This research will be of value to scholars interested in the methodology of economics and in the history of economic doctrine, and more broadly to the philosophers and historians of science.
