Q.Distinguish between Positive Economics and Normative Economics.

This distinction is about the type of statement being made, not about which branch (micro or macro) is being studied.

Positive economics describes and explains economic facts and relationships as they actually exist, without any value judgement — its statements can, in principle, be checked against real data. "A rise in the price of onions reduces the quantity demanded" or "Maharashtra's sugarcane output rose last season" are positive statements. Normative economics, in contrast, involves a value judgement about what is desirable, fair or ought to be done, and cannot be proved true or false purely by data — "the government ought to cap onion prices to protect poor consumers" is a normative statement, because it depends on a judgement about fairness, not simply a provable fact. Most real economic policy debates combine both: a positive component (what will actually happen if a policy is adopted) and a normative component (whether that outcome is desirable) — separating the two clearly is exactly what this classification is meant to help a student do.

Students often think 'positive' means 'good news' and 'normative' means 'bad news' — the actual distinction is fact vs value judgement, unrelated to whether the statement sounds favourable.