Features of a Science

• Major features of science

  the major features of a science are key features of a study/theory/explanation which make it classed as scientific

  • theory construction
  • hypothesis testing
  • falsifiability
  • replicability
  • objectivity
  • paradigms and paradigms shifts
  • empiricism
  • control
• Theory construction

  facts alone are meaningless. A psychologist should not just say facts/beliefs they need to construct a theory or explanation to make sense of the facts

  • a theory is a collection of general principles that explain facts and observations
  • these theories can help us to predict and understand the phenomena around us
  • after a theory has been created to explain facts, they must create a hypothesis and then a study to test the hypothesis. If the hypothesis is proved to be correct the theory is accurate, if the hypothesis is proved to be incorrect the theory needs to be amended
• Hypothesis testing

  theories are modified through the process of hypothesis testing;

  • a good theory must be able to generate a testable hypothesis
  • scientists then create studies which test these hypotheses
  • if the study finds the results to be significant then the hypothesis is correct, so the theory is correct
  • however, if the results are not significant then the hypothesis is rejected which means the theory must be amended
• Falsifiability

  this is where we must be able to test a theory to see if it is false or not (replication is the way to check this)

  • for example, Freud's psychodynamic approach can be considered unfalsifiable as a lot of assumptions are untestable (we cannot prove or disprove the existence of the unconscious mind as it's an abstract concept)
• Replicability

  in order to be considered a science, studies need to be replicable;

  • this is the extent to which research can be repeated
  • this allows us to repeat the method to asses if similar findings are achieved
  • if the findings are the same/similar then results are reliable, if they are not then results are not reliable and further research may be needed to be done
  • a standardised procedure makes a study more replicable
• Objectivity

  in order for a study/theory to be considered a science, it needs to be objective;

  • this means that the data and conclusions should be based on facts not opinions
  • they should not be open to interpretation, if it is then it would be subjective, which is not scientific
  • for example, brain scans are very objective as they show the facts of what is happening in the brain (not open to interpretation). Whereas content analysis is open to interpretation as it is based on the opinion of the psychologist doing the research
• Paradigms

  a paradigm is a set of shared assumptions about how behaviour/thought is studied and explained

  • Thomas Kuhn (1962) suggested what distinguishes scientific disciplines from non-scientific disciplines is a shared set of assumptions and methods about a subject (this is a paradigm)
• Paradigm shifts

  a shift occurs where members of a scientific community change from one established way of explaining/studying a behaviour/thought to a new way, due to new/contradictory evidence

  • this shift leads to a 'scientific revolution'
  • a handful of researchers begin to question the accepted paradigm, this critique then begins to gather popularity and pace and eventually a paradigm shift will take place
• Empirical methods


  this is one of the most important features of a science;

  • this is where we need to be able to physically see or measure the thing that we are looking at
  • anything that cannot be observed directly is called unempirical
• Control

  this is where extraneous variables have been prevented from affecting the dependent variable

  • this helps to establish a clearer cause and effect relationship