Features of Science

• Evidence for psychology as a science:

  • Objective - quantitative methods.
  • Lab experiments are objective
  • Empirical evidence: Pavlov, Skinner
  • Replicability - SLT, brain scanning techniques.
  • Can be falsified -> Biological approach, Pavlov, Skinner.
  • Theory construction+ hypothesis testing -> Behaviourism, SLT, cognitive neuroscience, biological.
• Evidence against psychology as a science:

  • Subjective - unstructured interviews, unstructured recording of observation.
  • Qualitative data is subjective and so is Psychodynamic approach +Freud.
  • Can't replicate case studies.
  • Not falsifiable - Freud
  • Theory construction + Hypothesis testing - Freud + Psychodynamic approach.
  • Psychology lacks a paradigm so it is a pre-science.
• Key features of a scientific method:

  • Paradigms and paradigm shifts
  • Replicability
  • Objectivity
  • Falsification
  • Empirical methods
  • Theory construction and Hypothesis testing
• Objectivity:

  • Based on facts rather than opinion.
  • True for everyone
  • Dispassionate
• Subjectivity:

  • Based on personal opinion rather than facts.
  • Not universal
  • Emotive
• Objectivity and the Empirical Method:

  • Scientists keep a 'critical distance' in order to aim to be objective in their research.
  • Scientists must not allow their personal experiences or biases to "discolour" the data they collect or influence the behaviour of the participants they are studying.
  • Objective methods in psychology are usually those where there is high control (e.g. lab experiments).
• Theory Construction occurs through gathering evidence via direct observation, using the empirical method.
• It should be possible to make clear and precise predictions on the basis of a theory. This is the role of hypothesis testing.
• An essential component of a theory is that it can be scientifically tested.
• A hypothesis can be tested using systematic and objective methods to determine whther it will be supported or refuted.

  • In the case of supporting, the theory will be strengthened.
  • In the case of refuting, the theory will be revised, revisited or rejected.
• The process of deriving new hypothesis from an existing theory is known as deduction.
• The Scientific Method.

  1. Formulate Question
  2. Construct Hypothesis
  3. Research and observations
  4. Test and experiment
  5. Analyse results and conclude
  6. Confirm hypothesis (Yes -> Report) (No-> Go back to step 1)
• Falsifiability:

  • In the 1930s Popper asserted that the key criterion of a scientific theory is falsifiability.
  • He suggested genuine scientific theories should hold themselves up for hypothesis testing and possibility of being proven false.
  • He believed even when a scientific principle had been successfully and repeatedly tested, it was not necessarily true. It instead had not been proven false yet.
  • Popper drew a clear line between good science in which theories are consistently challenged and 'pseudosciences' which couldn't be falsified.
• Replicability:

  • If a scientific theory is to be 'trusted', the finding from it must be shown to be repeatable across a number of different contexts and circumstances.
  • Replicating findings over different contexts and circumstances allows us to see the extent to which findings can be generalised.
• Empirical Methods:

  • A theory cannot claim to be scientific unless it has been empirically tested and verified (usually via experiment or observation).
  • Empirical methods emphasise the importance of data collecting based on direct, sensory experience.
  • Objectivity is the basis of the empirical method.
• The scientific process can include either:

  Induction - Carrying out research and them comping up with a theory (theory comes last).

  Deduction - Coming up with a theory and then carrying out research to test it (theory comes first).
• Example of induction:

  Observation -> Testable hypothesis -> Test hypothesis -> Draw conclusions -> Propose theory
• Example of deduction:

  Observation -> Propose theory -> Testable hypothesis -> Test hypothesis -> Draw conclusions
• Paradigm Shifts:

  • According to Kuhn, progress within a particular science occurs when there is a scientific revolution.
  • A group of researchers began to question the accepted paradigm.
  • This occurs when there is too much contradictory evidence to ignore.
  • For example, it used to be accepted the sun revolves around the Earth.
  • Kuhn would argue psychology has not undergone paradigm shifts.
• According to Kuhn, psychology has too many internal disagreements and too many conflicting approaches to qualify as a science, and so it fits into his category of pre-sciences.

  However, not all subscribe to this view.
• A paradigm is a clear, distinct concept accepted by most people in a scientific field (They can still be falsified).
• Examples of Paradigms:

  • Evolution
  • The planet orbits the sun
• Paradigms:

  • Kuhn suggested that what distinguishes scientific disciplines from non-scientific disciplines is a shared set of assumptions and methods - a paradigm.
  • He suggested that psychology lacks a universally accepted paradigm and is best seen as a 'pre science'.
  • Natural sciences are characterised by having a number of principles at their core, accepted by most people in the intellectual community.