In economics, anecdotal value refers to the primarily social and political value of an anecdote or anecdotal evidence in promoting understanding of a social, cultural, or economic phenomenon. While anecdotal evidence is typically disparaged as unscientific in the medical and social sciences, in the last several decades the evaluation of anecdotes has received sustained academic scrutiny from economists and scholars such as S. G. Checkland (on David Ricardo), Steven Novella, R. Charleton, Hollis Robbins, Kwamena Kwansah-Aidoo, and others. These academics seek to quantify the value inherent in the deployment of anecdotes. More recently, economists studying choice models have begun assessing anecdotal value in the context of framing; Kahneman and Tversky suggest that choice models may be contingent on stories or anecdotes that frame or influence choice.[1]. As an example, consider Joseph Stalin's apocryphal quote: The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.[2]
The concept of Anecdotal Value is related to Clay Shirky's concept of cognitive surplus.
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