Question

according to thinking like an economist, what is the difference between a normative and a positive question?

Answer 1

Positive Questions ask about the facts. They ask the cause and effect relationship between economic variables. Normative questions ask about the opinions. They cannot be verified, proved or disapproved.

Example of positive economic question: Do higher income results in higher expenditure?

Example of Normative economic question: should government give subsidy to poor people?

Answer 2

The difference is Normative questions ask about what policies or institutional arrangements lead to the best outcomes. Positive questions ask what the consequences of specific policies are.
Normative question should be ask in order to obtain the best decision for certain policies while positive question usually asked to seek deeper understanding on the policies.